The Chicago White Sox released the order of their starting rotation for the season and it’s no surprise that the ace on the staff, Dylan Cease, was named the Opening Day starter and first in the rotation.
He’s clearly the best pitcher on the staff heading into the 2023 season. The 2022 Cy Young runner-up looks to build upon his strong 2022 campaign and have an excellent season.
Friday’s game was the tune-up for Cease for his regular-season start. The White Sox ended up beating the Oakland Athletics by a score of 12-0. It was thanks to Ceases’ spot-on pitching, in part, that they were able to win this game (and don’t forget the great offense too).
The stats never lie and Cease put up some great stats in this game. He allowed four hits in six innings of work, struck out five, and allowed three walks. His ERA was brought down to 7.31 following a disastrous start to spring training.
Cease looked sharp and looks like he’s ready to face a powerful Houston Astros team this coming Opening Day down in Houston.
He’s calm, collected, and appears as if he’s ready to go out and win the American League Cy Young Award. I have him as the winner the Cy Young and think he will earn the honor in a landslide victory.
The White Sox are in good shape with Dylan Cease going forward.
Friday’s game was just a peek inside a fraction of what Cease can do when he’s on the mound. I would suspect that against the Astros on Opening Day, Cease is going to shine and hold the Astros down to near-zero runs before giving way to the relievers.
One can hope that this happens. It would be great to see Chicago get their first victory of the season against the World Champion Houston Astros. It might signal the begging of a great year for Cease and the Sox.
Cease’s slider is his go-to pitch and he uses it to deadly effect taking down opposing batters by the dozens. We saw it at work last year and in this year’s spring training. It a very effective pitch. Cease has perfected it and now the league will see it again and batters will strike out many times against it.
The Chicago White Sox pitching rotation is sound with five guys that should have solid and productive seasons. With Cease, Lance Lynn, Lucas Giolito, Mike Clevinger, and Michael Kopech, this rotation should be sound barring any kind of injury or setback that we can’t yet see. This may be one of the best starting rotations in all of baseball this season to be honest.
So is Cease ready to go for the 2023 season based on what we saw Friday? He sure is. And will he have a successful 2023 season?
Yes, he will. Cease will be the best pitcher on the White Sox staff and likely the best pitcher in the American League this year. The sky is the limit for Cease and he will go far for sure.