Everything that could go wrong for the Chicago White Sox pretty much did in 2022 which is the reason that they went 81-81. They were probably the most disappointing team in the entire league. However, one thing that went really well for them was the development of Dylan Cease.
Rick Hahn takes a lot of flack, as he should. He has been one of the least successful GMs across the entire league during his tenure. Nothing seemed to go right for them as an organization while he was in charge. A lot of it is Jerry Reinsdorf's fault but Hahn deserves a lot of the blame too.
However, the one thing that nobody can take away from him is the fleecing of Theo Epstein and the Chicago Cubs back in 2017. Hahn sent Jose Quintana to the Cubs for four prospects. Two of them are Eloy Jimenez and Dylan Cease.
For Jimenez, he is a monster home run hitter but he seems to be made of glass. He needs to start finding a way to stay healthy so that he can have that kind of production for an entire season. That would help the White Sox win a lot more.
Dylan Cease was everything the White Sox needed and more in 2022.
For Cease, he is finally here. It took him around 35-40 starts (as it does for a lot of guys) to get going but once he jumped that cliff, he really jumped it. He was one of the best pitchers in baseball during the 2022 year. He was so good that he came in second for the American League Cy Young.
The White Sox were unable to put something together well enough around him to take advantage but they are hoping that he is able to carry this on into 2023 and beyond. He was so good with his mix of breaking stuff and great velocity on his fastball. For a while, he was virtually unhittable.
When Cease was on the mound, the White Sox had a great chance to win which is all you expect out of most of your starters. For Cease, if the White Sox scored 2-3 runs in a game, that would usually be good enough for Cease. Unfortunately, that wasn't always the case for the offense.
Coming into 2023, it is obvious that the White Sox are going to rely on him a lot again. Hopefully, the new year brings him health and consistent play yet again. The sky is the limit for a talent like this.