Chicago White Sox righthander Dylan Cease had a solid first full season in the big leagues. A 3.91 earned run average with 226 strikeouts over 165 2⁄3 innings (32 starts, tied for American League lead) is encouraging, no doubt. However, the 25-year-old’s breakout was not without speed bumps.
There were bouts of control issues (3.69 walks per nine ranked 37th out of 40 qualified MLB starters) and Cease ranked at or near the bottom of the same group in first-pitch strike rate (58.3%, 34th of 38), WHIP (1.