'True power pitcher,' Cease notches 3rd straight 200-K season

BOSTON -- Chris Sale knows a thing or two about dominant pitching performances as part of the White Sox.

Just check out the South Siders’ record book on a yearly and career basis, and the southpaw’s name is at or near the top of numerous categories from his seven seasons with Chicago. But Dylan Cease has begun to put his name alongside Sale via impressive numbers posted over the past three seasons.

With his season-high 11 strikeouts over seven scoreless innings and 108 pitches during Saturday’s 1-0 victory at a rain-soaked Fenway Park, Cease surpassed 200 strikeouts for a third consecutive season. He joins Sale (2013-16) and Ed Walsh (1910-12) as the lone White Sox hurlers with three-plus seasons above 200, with Cease currently at 207, as he helped the White Sox (59-96) snap a three-game losing streak.

So what does Sale, the White Sox symbol of excellence from the past in his sixth year with Boston, think of Cease, the White Sox mound present and future? It’s nothing but high marks and respect.

“He’s a big arm,” Sale told MLB.com prior to Saturday’s contest. “Good stuff, like true power pitcher. He looks like he pitches with confidence.”

Cease was on the same lofty level as he was during an Opening Day start against the defending World Series champions from Houston, when he struck out 10 without a walk and yielded one run over 6 2/3 innings. He recorded 23 swings and misses on Saturday, according to Statcast, with 14 off his fastball and seven off his slider, while commanding three pitches.

“Off the top of my head, I think this was probably No. 1,” said Cease in ranking Saturday’s start as his best in 2023.

“He’s 97 [mph] with 21 inches of pop,” said Boston manager Alex Cora of Cease. “He’s not easy to hit, with good offspeed pitches. He’s a good one. There’s a reason they kept him. Whatever they are going to do in the future, everything is around him and [Luis] Robert [Jr.] He’s very tough.”

Seventeen career double-digit strikeout games tie Cease with Walsh for second all-time with the White Sox, trailing only Sale’s total of 35. Cease put together four double-digit strikeout efforts in 2023, and since the start of ‘22, he leads the Majors with 35 starts allowing one or zero earned runs.

Some pundits still would call 2023 a slightly down year for the White Sox ace. He has a 4.66 ERA after Saturday’s no-decision and ranks sixth in baseball with 77 walks over 172 innings. But it’s a down season primarily in comparison to his ‘22 effort, which featured a 2.20 ERA and 227 strikeouts to leave Cease second behind Justin Verlander in the American League Cy Young voting.

It was the sort of performance putting the opposing team’s focus upon Cease at the top of the rotation.

“You have a good year, and people notice it. You have two good years and then people are on you, right?” Sale said. “Scouting reports are different. When we are facing Verlander, guys are locked in. It’s a little bit different when you are a guy that guys notice: We are facing this guy in this series. I’m sure he has that to deal with as well.”

Said Cease: “If I had to guess, there’s probably a high level of scouting and preparation for my starts. But if I go out and execute like this, there’s only so much you can prepare for. The biggest thing is just finding a way to be consistent as I was today. If I take that into every start, it’s going to be good.”

Robert Jr. provided the game’s only run with a 311-foot ninth-inning drive just inside Pesky’s Pole in right field. His 38th home run and 75th extra-base hit this season is tied for the shortest out of the park homer this season, according to Statcast.

That blast didn’t make a winner of Cease. But another dominant performance for the right-hander was a victory in itself.

“He did a good job,” said Robert Jr., through interpreter Billy Russo, of Cease. “It’s important for him to finish strong and to be able to carry that into the next season.”

“It was one of those I had command of three pitches,” said Cease after making his 32nd start for a third straight season. “It was coming out hot and [catcher] Korey [Lee] called a great game. I know [Boston hitters] are very disciplined. I knew I had to attack the strike zone and get ahead.”