Dylan Cease

Dylan Edward Cease

Bats Right, Throws Right
Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
High School Milton (GA) High School
Debut July 3, 2019

Born December 28, 1995 in Milton, GA USA

Biographical Information[edit]

Dylan Cease reached the big leagues in 2019 as a member of the Chicago White Sox.

Cease was drafted out of high school by the White Sox's north side neighbors, the Chicago Cubs, in the 6th round of the 2014 amateur draft. He began his career with the AZL Cubs in 2015, going 1-2, 2.63 in 11 games. In 2016, he was 2-0, 2.22 in 12 starts for the Eugene Emeralds of the Northwest League. He pitched only 44 2/3 innings, allowing a mere 27 hits but 25 walks and striking out 66. In 2017, he began the season with the South Bend Cubs of the Midwest League where, after 13 starts, he was 1-2, 2.79. Dylan was going a bit deeper into his games, with 51 2/3 innings pitched, but still fewer than 4 per start. On July 13th, he was one of four prospects traded to the Chicago White Sox in return for major league starter José Quintana; joining him were outfielder Eloy Jimenez, and infielders Matt Rose and Bryant Flete.

A veteran of the 2018 Futures Game, Dylan made his major league debut on July 3, 2019. He walked the first three batters he faced, giving up 3 runs but striking out 6 in 5 innings in a start against the Detroit Tigers in the first game of a doubleheader. On the season, he finished 4-7, 5.79 with 81 strikeouts in 14 starts (73 innings). In 2020, he made 12 starts for Chicago in the pandemic-shortened season, going 5-4, 4.01; he led the American League with 34 walks in 58 1/3 innings. He then pitched one scoreless inning in relief in the postseason.

He had a career game on May 4, 2021. Facing the Cincinnati Reds, he allowed just one hit in 6 innings while striking out 11 to receive credit for a 9-0 win. He also batted for the first time of his professional career, and went 3 for 3 with a double. He was just the fourth pitcher since 1961 to obtain a hit in his first three career plate appearances, following Larry Miller, T.J. Tucker and Steven Matz. He went 13-7, 3.91 in 32 games that season, being tied for the American League lead in starts, and logging 165 2/3 innings. He struck out 226 batters, third most in the league. He also had the highest K/9 IP ratio in the league, and led in wild pitches with 13. He started Game 3 of the Division Series against the Houston Astros on October 10th, but left after just 1 2/3 innings, having allowed 3 runs on 2 hits and 3 walks; Chicago lost the game, 12-6.

He put up a very unusual pitching line in a start against the New York Yankees on May 12, 2012. On the one hand, in four innings of work, he recorded 11 strikeouts, with only one out being recorded by his defense. But he was not by any means dominant as the Yankees managed 6 hits and 2 walks off him, and five of the hits went for extra bases, including a pair of homers by Giancarlo Stanton. This resulted in 6 runs, but he ended up with a no-decision as his teammates managed to tie the score in the bottom of the 7th, before losing the game, 15-7, when the Yankees erupted for 7 runs in the 8th. He was the American League Pitcher of the Month in June when he put up a minuscule 0.33 ERA, allowing but a single earned run. He repeated as Pitcher of the Month in July, as he went 5-1 with an 0.76 ERA and 40 strikeouts in 35 2/3 innings. Yet he somehow failed to be named to the All-Star team. On August 5th, he made it 13 straight starts of allowing one earned run or none when he gave up just 1 run in 6 innings against the Texas Rangers. He became the first player to accomplish that since ERA became an official statistic in 1913. The win improved his record to 12-4 on the season. He extended the streak one more game, to 14, before giving up 3 runs in 5 innings in a no-decision against the Houston Astros on August 16th. On September 3rd, he came within one out of pitching a no-hitter against the Minnesota Twins, throwing 8 2/3 hitless innings before Luis Arraez hit a single to a right-center. Dylan then struck out the next batter, Kyle Garlick, to complete the one-hitter, a 13-0 win that improved his record to 13-6. It was his second career complete game and shutout, having pitched one the previous year. He finished the season at 14-8, 2.20 in 33 starts, with 214 strikeouts in 184 innings. He was in the top ten in the AL in wins (7th), ERA (2nd), winning percentage (9th), WHIP (8th), hits per 9 innings (2nd), strikeouts per 9 innings (3rd), innings pitched (10th), strikeouts (2nd) and shutouts (tied for 1st), but also led the circuit in walks (78).

After his break-out season, in 2022, he fell back significantly in 2023, going 7-9, 4.58 in 33 starts. The team behind him was much worse than in the previous few seasons, but he did not help himself by allowing more walks (79) in fewer innings (177) than the previous season, and also leading the American League in wild pitches. Despite this, or maybe as a result of this, he led the majors in "swords" (i,e, pitches that batters miss by a wide margin)[1], a statistic that was tracked for the first time that season. The White Sox cleaned house with their pitching staff during the season, dealing away a number of veteran pitchers such as Lucas Giolito, Joe Kelly, Kendall Graveman, Lance Lynn or Reynaldo López, but Cease stayed put. There was more speculation that he would be dealt during the off-season, but when spring training opened in 2024, he was still with the team. However, on March 13th, the Sox pulled off a big trade, sending him to the San Diego Padres in return for four players: major league reliever Steven Wilson and prospects Jairo Iriarte, Drew Thorpe and Samuel Zavala. The Padres were about to leave for their season-opening series against the Los Angeles Dodgers in South Korea when the trade was announced, and it wasn't immediately clear if Cease would make the trip at some later point, given there was still a week left before the actual games. He did make the trip to Korea, although he wasn't scheduled to start either of the two games. Having missed the team's chartered flight, he had to take a commercial one, but it wasn't for naught as he did get to start an exhibition game against the LG Twins.

His first start for the Padres was a loss to the San Francisco Giants on March 30, 2024, then, after a no-decision, he reeled off three straight wins. The third of these was the most impressive, as it came at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies and he wasn't fazed by the altitude, allowing just one hit and no walks in seven innings and striking out 8 in a 3-1 win. No one had ever pitched that many innings with just one hit and no walks in the history of the ballpark.

Notable Achievements[edit]

AL Shutouts Leader (2022)
200 Strikeouts Seasons: 3 (2021-2023)

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Dylan Cease

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