Cease blows away 'Cats on career night
Over the past few weeks, Dylan Cease and Class A Advanced Winston-Salem pitching coach Matt Zaleski analyzed what could make the hurler even more dominant in the Carolina League. The fifth-ranked White Sox prospect might have figured out his answer with his start Tuesday night.
Cease (3-1) recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts and retired 19 in a row over seven frames as Winston-Salem cruised to a 9-0 win over the Hillcats at BB&T Ballpark. The right-hander yielded two hits without walking a batter as he lowered his ERA to 2.05.
Video: Cease records career-high 12th K
"We decided that I needed to mix in the changeup, I needed to get people off of my fastball," Cease said of his gameplan with Zaleski. "It's good to have that kind of reasoning and have that person there to guide you through something like that."
Through five starts in his first season in the Carolina League, MLB.com's No. 59 overall prospect ranks eighth among all Minor Leaguers with 36 punchouts in 26 1/3 innings. With seven scoreless frames Tuesday, he dropped his WHIP to 1.03 and his opponents' batting average to .161. Throughout the start, Cease consistently threw a mid-90s fastball, reportedly touching 100 mph on the ballpark's radar gun.
The Georgia native credits his winter workouts and overall approach for being able to continually reach high velocity with his heater.
"I spend a lot of time on weightlifting and conditioning in the offseason," Cease added. "I'm fortunate to have very even mechanics and that kind of helps with that because I don't have to necessarily waver. It's just a combination of all of that and just attacking."
After walking six over a season-low 3 2/3 innings April 25 against the Hillcats, he understood there was a better way of keeping pace with the Lynchburg lineup the second time around.
"I kept it simple," Cease said. "I just kept my head at a target and threw my pitch right through it. I just tried to be simple and aggressive. I didn't do anything different from what I've been doing. I executed my pitches today and we were able to win.
"They're definitely hunting fastballs early. When I was able to throw in my changeup, I was able to get guys off [my fastball]. When it's 0-2, 1-2, it's harder for a hitter to do anything with that. I was able to get guys in counts that I liked and I executed and got them out."
The right-hander fired 74 of 101 pitches for strikes, fanning the side on three occasions. Cease limited solid contact, with only four batters putting the ball into the outfield.
Indians No. 27 prospect Mitch Longo began the evening with a single up the middle, but Cease set down the next 19 hitters. Twelfth-ranked Conner Capel ended the string with a one-out single to center in the seventh, but that's all Cease gave up. The 22-year-old punctuated his night by striking out Li-Jen Chu and Emmanuel Tapia.
"I was just as happy about [not walking anyone] as I was with the strikeouts," Cease said. "There's still a lot of room for improvement, caught a lot of 3-2 counts. But it's definitely something good to build off. ... It's everything that I wanted to do. I wanted to throw it by guys. I wanted to dominate. I wanted to get guys out like that. So to go in and execute and get the job done like that, it's a great feeling."
Cease sports a 2.77 ERA with 253 strikeouts over 188 1/3 innings in 50 games, including 47 starts, since the Cubs selected him in the sixth round of the 2014 Draft.
"I think it's just I have to continue to follow my routine of what I do -- not get too high or get too low," the 6-foot-2, 190-pound pitcher said. "And just go in there and execute pitches again. I'm not worried about results yet for the most part. I just want to do things pitch by pitch."
In support of the Dash starter, seventh-ranked White Sox prospect Blake Rutherford and No. 10 Micker Adolfo each delivered two hits and an RBI, while Nate Nolan and Alex Call homered for Winston-Salem.
Andrew Battifarano is a contributor to MiLB.com. Follow him on Twitter, @AndrewAtBatt.