Dylan Cease’s first taste of the majors in 2019 was just that: a first step.
But if the White Sox are going to meet their expectations of contention in 2020, he’ll need to take the next step.
Cease is one of a host of young arms the White Sox view as having top-of-the-rotation potential, and certainly his dominant minor league season in 2018 was tantalizing. But his first 14 starts of big league ball featured the kinds of growing pains that aren’t at all unexpected from someone facing major league hitters for the first time, and the results weren’t pretty: a 5.