The Cease File
Team: Chicago White Sox
Height: 6-2
Weight: 195
Birthday: 12/28/1995
Fastball Velo: 96.8 mph
College: N/A
Draft: 169th overall, 2014
Contract: 1-year, $5.7 million contract for 2023
WAG: In a relationship with Rebekah Haynes
Children: N/A
Betting Odds: +900 to win the Cy Young award, +1200 to lead the league in strikeouts, +3000 to lead the league in wins
Record/Accomplishments:
- Most consecutive starts with 6+ innings and at most one earned run (13), 2022
- One All-MLB Second Team selection, 2022
Dylan Cease's Incredible Run
Chicago White Sox fireballer Dylan Cease had a career year in 2022. He finished with 4.4 (Fangraphs) Wins Above Replacement, 184 innings, and of course an Earned Run Average of 2.20. It was simply stellar and a bright spot amongst a sorry Chicago summer.
One stretch of that season, however, may etch him into baseball immortality. On August 5, 2022, Cease allowed just a single run over six innings of work. That happened to be his 13th consecutive start with as many innings and as few runs. When omitting openers, who frequently start games for just a single inning, Cease found himself as a Major League Baseball record holder.
“Young man continues to impress, amaze,” started his manager, Tony La Russa. “Works so hard and he just settled down.”
It may have been the peak of his dominance, but a blazing fastball and nasty slider render him a threat to chase his own record deep into future summers. Striking out more than 30% of his opponents, as he’s done over the past two seasons, certainly helps.
Whether regression to the mean wins again or Cease remains dominant, one thing is certain. Until another star takes it from him, Cease’s name is in the record books.