GLENDALE, Ariz. — Staff ace Dylan Cease found the effectiveness of his slider in the second inning Tuesday. If he can sustain his dominance with more efficiency, he and the White Sox have a better chance to become even more formidable this season.
Cease, in his first start since the Royals tagged him for seven hits and four walks in two-thirds of an inning last Wednesday, regained the sharpness on his breaking pitches after overcoming a shaky first inning against the Athletics.
“I threw curves and sliders really well for strikes and [aimed for the] back foot and [got opponents to] chase when I needed to,” he said after allowing one earned run and three hits while striking out four in 3⅓ innings. “I started off slow and then got in rhythm when I needed to. It definitely was very much a positive step in the right direction.”
There were no signs of panic after Cease’s debacle against the Royals, primarily because of his ascent as one of the top pitchers in the American League and the fact he had three more starts scheduled, including Tuesday’s, before he pitches the season opener March 30 against the World Series champion Astros.
But the slider is Cease’s signature pitch, and when he struggles with it, the result is often high pitch counts, walks and earlier-than-anticipated departures.
After Cease found his preferred release point Tuesday, the results were instantly impressive. He struck out two during a 10-pitch second inning, capped by Kevin Smith getting called out on strikes for a pitch-clock violation.
“It’s about throwing strikes — it’s really that simple,” said Cease, who in 2022 led the majors in walks (78) and percentage of sliders (42.9%, according to Baseball Info Systems) and was second in pitches per start (97.5). “Just getting my stuff in the strike zone. It’s easier said than done, but once I’m locked and ready to go, which I feel I am now, I think these last couple [of starts] are going to be really sharp.”
Cease momentarily got off track by walking Jace Peterson with one out in the third, but he retired the next two batters on grounders.
Cease finished second behind the Yankees’ Gerrit Cole with 227 strikeouts last season. However, he would gladly trade some of those strikeouts — after laboring deep in counts — for first-pitch outs on soft contact on sliders.
“When you fall behind, then they can just sit and take and take and take,” Cease said. “You just waste pitches. If you force them to put it in [play] early and then there’s weak contact, the pitch count definitely stays down.”
Cease admitted there’s a considerable difference between working on his slider in the bullpen and employing it in games.
“And higher intensity tends to change things up, so I figured out the adjustment and trusted it,” he said. “So now, going into the next one, I know, ‘All right, this is exactly what we need to do.’ So I’d expect the next one to be even sharper.”
Sox manager Pedro Grifol sensed Cease wasn’t going to be consumed with making amends for the mess against the Royals. But Cease admitted he was eager to take the mound.
After getting the automatic third-strike call on Smith to end the second, he sarcastically pumped his fist as he walked off the mound.
“Saved a bullet and got a strikeout?” Cease said. “You’re killing two birds with one stone there.”
