Dylan Cease

BIOGRAPHY

Dylan Cease was born December 28, 1995, in Milton, Georgia. He is a pitcher in the MLB.

Cease attended Milton High School in Milton, Georgia. Pitching for the school's baseball team, his fastball velocity averaged 91 to 95 miles per hour (146 to 153 km/h), while peaking at 98 miles per hour (158 km/h). In games that he did not pitch, Cease played shortstop. In 2013, his junior year, Milton won the state championship in baseball. Cease also appeared in a second straight state championship series but lost to Lambert High School. Cease committed to attend Vanderbilt University on a college baseball scholarship to play for the Vanderbilt Commodores. During the summer seasons, Cease competed for Team Elite out of Winder, GA, and excelled, earning him an invitation to the Perfect Game National Showcase and Perfect Game All-American Classic.

He began the 2018 season with the Winston-Salem Dash of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League and earned a midseason promotion to the Birmingham Barons of the Class AA Southern League. Cease was selected to represent the White Sox at the 2018 All-Star Futures Game.

The White Sox added Cease to their 40-man roster after the 2018 season.

Cease opened the 2019 season with the Charlotte Knights. On July 3, the White Sox promoted him to the major leagues. In his debut, he pitched five innings, allowed three runs, struck out six batters, and earned the win.

In 2020 he was 5-4 with a 4.01 ERA. 

On May 4, 2021, Dylan Cease hit his first career major league hit during a game against the Cincinnati Reds, and almost hit a home run to right field. Cease went 3-for-3 at the plate and pitched 6 scoreless innings giving up one hit and striking out 11 as the White Sox won 9-0. In 2021, Cease made 32 starts with a record of 13-7 and an ERA of 3.91 and pitched 165.2 innings while striking out 226 batters and lead the American League in K/9 with 12.3. Cease made his first career postseason start in Game 3 of the 2021 ALDS against the Houston Astros. Cease struggled only pitching 1.2 innings and giving up 3 runs while striking out only 2 batters in the White Sox' 12-6 win.

In 2022, Cease was named the June AL Pitcher of the Month, his first such monthly honor. Cease was also named the July AL Pitcher of the Month, becoming the first pitcher in White Sox history to win two such awards in consecutive months. On September 3, Cease carried a no-hitter through 8+2⁄3 innings against the Minnesota Twins before second baseman Luis Arráez hit a line drive single into right-center field. Cease finished the complete game shutout after this (the first complete game of his career), allowing one hit and two walks with seven strikeouts.

In 2022 he was 14–8 (his 14 wins were 7th in the AL, and his .636 win-loss percentage was 9th) with a 2.20 ERA (2nd in the AL) in 32 starts (3rd) covering 184 innings (10th) with 227 strikeouts (2nd). He was third in the AL with 12.28 K/9, allowed 6.16 hits per 9 innings (2nd), led the majors with 78 walks allowed, his 10.4% walk percentage was the highest in the majors, had a WHIP of 1.109 (8th), threw sliders 42.9% of the time (more than any other pitcher in the major leagues), and at 77.8 mph threw the slowest changeup in the major leagues. He primarily threw an 87 mph slider and a 97 mph four seam fastball, while also throwing an 81 mph curveball. Cease was second in the voting for the Cy Young Award behind Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros, and was named to the All-MLB Second Team.

On January 13, 2023, Cease agreed to a one-year, $5.7 million contract with the White Sox, avoiding salary arbitration. Cease was on the preliminary rosters for both Team Israel and Team USA for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, but decided not to pitch in the WBC.