Chicago White Sox right-handed pitcher Dylan Cease is a poet. And he knows it, too.
In a video posted by MLB’s official social media account Wednesday, Cease revealed that he once spent time in the shower writing an ode to honor his slider.
“Honestly, I was just in the shower, and I was listening to piano music,” Cease said. “Just happened in my mind, so I ended up writing it down.”
It went a little something like this:
“Oh slider, slide, oh slider, slide past the batsman. I send my slider to hide. Oh slider, slide, oh slider, slide, past the batsman I send that round cowhide.”
"O' Slider Slide."
— MLB (@MLB) March 7, 2024
A poem by Dylan Cease. ✍️ pic.twitter.com/5rFpFeTVzX
Cease couldn’t remember the rest.
Cease’s slider was the best pitcher in baseball during the 2022 MLB season. Among all pitches in baseball, Cease’s slider notched a run value of plus-36, far better than the second-best MLB pitch that year (Shohei Ohtani’s sweeper; plus-25).
Cease threw that pitch nearly 43% of the time that season, logging a 14-8 record, 2.20 ERA and finishing runner-up in the AL Cy Young Award race.
A pitch worth a poem, indeed.
“If you break down every line, it really is applicable to the slider,” he said.
