Barons' Cease extends scoreless streak

If the White Sox were looking to test Dylan Cease with a midseason promotion, it's safe to say he's passing with flying colors.
Chicago's fifth-ranked prospect was at it again Saturday, allowing one baserunner and striking out nine over six scoreless innings, before Double-A Birmingham fell to Mobile, 1-0, at Regions Field. He stretched his scoreless streak to 23 innings and lowered his ERA to 1.99 in seven Southern League starts.

"He's got great stuff," Barons pitching coach Richard Dotson said. "That's the idea. You just keep trying to do the best that you can. He's in Double-A right now. Each level takes it to a different level. He's well on his way to continue to develop and become the pitcher we'd like him to be."

Cease was perfect in every inning but one -- a two-out single in the third by Brandon Sandoval that was deflected by third baseman Bryant Flete accounted for the BayBears' lone baserunner against the right-hander. The 2014 sixth-round Draft pick featured a four-seamer that topped out around 98 mph on Saturday. 
"He continues to get ahead of guys and use the secondary pitches off of his great fastball in counts that matter, whether it's 2-2 or 3-2," Dotson said. "He doesn't necessarily have to throw a fastball in those counts. He just continues to get a little bit better each time he goes out." 
The 22-year-old retired the first eight batters he faced, using a pair of strikeouts in the first and a trio of groundouts in the second. He fanned Sherman Johnson and Riley Unroe to begin the third prior to Sandoval's knock. Sandoval stole second with Jahmai Jones at the plate, but Cease recovered and struck out the Angels' No. 4 prospect for the second time. 
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With outside criticism and praise a couple of taps on a phone screen away, Dotson has been impressed with how Cease can shut it all out. 
"He continues to work. He's kind of got a pretty good demeanor about him, about going about his business.," the pitching coach said. "That's what he needs to do. He's not caught up in the hype. He's not caught up in the hype that's created by social media, you know what I mean?"
That punchout began a different streak for the Milton, Georgia, native, who set down the final 10 BayBears he faced. In the sixth, he got both Unroe and Sandoval swinging before inducing a tapper back to the mound from Jones on the first pitch to end his outing. MLB.com's No. 40 overall prospect threw 53 of 91 pitches for strikes. 
"He's continuing to do what he needs to do as a pitcher to develop," Dotson said. "That's what I would hope the organization would like, because he's pretty doggone good. And he keeps doing it."
Cease has reached 12 strikeouts twice this year -- on May 1 with Class A Advanced Winston-Salem and on July 25 against Tennessee. He went 9-2 with a 2.89 ERA in 13 Carolina League starts before earning a promotion, with Saturday marking the fourth time this season he's racked up nine punchouts. 

Two starts ago, the 2018 Futures Game participant carried a no-hitter into the seventh and retired 20 in a row. It's not uncommon for him to retire batters in bunches and that's another aspect of what makes Cease special, Dotson said. The 6-foot-2, 190-pounder has learned that the best way to capitalize on his natural ability is to throw pitches that appear to be strikes but are difficult to hit. 
"With his stuff, it's just the quality and the things he's doing. He's not throwing it all over the place," Dotson said. "He's presenting pitches that hitters have to make a decision on. ... Of course, in the big leagues, guys have a better eye for things. You got to be able to present things that look like strikes and you got to put them in a position to make them swing. Even today, 2-2, 3-2, the pitches he threw -- I mean, first of all, you have to hit a 97-, 98 mph fastball, but the breaking stuff or the changeup are presented in a way that you have to make a quick decision. He's doing it quite well, so he needs to continue doing that."
As with many young hurlers, Cease can improve his secondary pitches to make them as good as his four-seamer. 
"Of course, he has a great fastball," Dotson said. "It's just getting his other pitches to where he can throw them for strikes in counts, whether he's ahead or behind and locate them." 
Facing reliever Matt Foster in the eighth, Jones plated Sandoval with a single that deflected off shortstop Danny Mendick to account for the game's only run.