According to a reddit message board, Lucas Giolito has repeatedly told his dad that Dylan Cease could be the best pitcher the Sox have.

This is why Katz is so enamored. Cease is his priority project. Huge upside. 

4 minutes ago, macsandz said:

This is why Katz is so enamored. Cease is his priority project. Huge upside. 

I mean the stuff is obvious.  Even if he fails for years, there will be teams who take shots at him because of that arm.

so much pressure on Katz

4 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

I mean the stuff is obvious.  Even if he fails for years, there will be teams who take shots at him because of that arm.

Arm and the make up. Cease is a really good kid who wants to be elite. He just needs to learn to harness the stuff. 

4 minutes ago, reiks12 said:

so much pressure on Katz

He doesn't have to fix everyone, but if he can get one of two of the top end kids, his job will be a lot easier.

15 minutes ago, southsider2k5 said:

According to a reddit message board, Lucas Giolito has repeatedly told his dad that Dylan Cease could be the best pitcher the Sox have.

A quote that will endear himself to his teammates, but not so much his agent.

Just now, WhiteSoxFan1993 said:

A quote that will endear himself to his teammates, but not so much his agent.

I don't get the impression that Lucas spends a lot of time worrying about his next contract, nor should he.

The most concerning part of that is the "flaming liberal" excerpt 

In the spirit of good-natured ribbing with Cubs fans both friends and family, it was a lot of fun to watch the success of Jon Garland and see how annoyed Cubs fans were with that trade.

Cease and Jimenez have the potential to take all of that to a completely different level.  
 

They will likely recalibrate the crosstown rivalry for years to come!

Giolito should stick to pitching and leave the evaluation stuff to SoxTalk.

Cease has the stuff, has the mindset, has everything. He will figure it out as some point - just unsure if that will come in a Sox uniform.

He reminds me actually a lot of Giolito. I remember when he was struggling in his 1st year with the Sox I kept saying he's going to be our future ace - I feel like Cease is going to be our 2/3 for a long time to come and think he'll have more glimmers of success over a long campaign this year. I'm guessing we'll see 3-5 game stretches where he looks like a world beater and other 3-5 game stretches where he'll be bullpen fodder. 

42 minutes ago, reiks12 said:

so much pressure on Katz

I think this is true if all pitching coaches, I doubt he feels any of that pressure

43 minutes ago, ron883 said:

The most concerning part of that is the "flaming liberal" excerpt 

Better that than a Capitol-invading member of the Gravy Seals.

1 hour ago, macsandz said:

This is why Katz is so enamored. Cease is his priority project. Huge upside. 

So happy we didn't trade Cease.  

I like to keep track of these things in the off-season.

So far we have:

1 - Best SHAPE of his life and finally taking fitness serious report!! - Carlos Rodon
1 - He reworked the complete way he pitches and will suddenly be elite because he cares (as if other players don't) - Dylan Cease
5 - The new coach is going to change the success of all these players tenfold even though the game only values coaches at about 1 million per year!!! - Every White Sox Pitcher who wasn't already good

It does not mean those things aren't true, but history does not support these claims on a grand predictive scale but that doesn't mean it's not possible progression and improvement ensues. Most guys are what they are after a certain period of time and the Giolito's are the exception to the rule, not the expected outcome. A lifetime of baseball habits are tough to break in one off-season of training.

Edited February 2, 20215 yr by Look at Ray Ray Run

But, but, the experts here say he's Lopez #2?

 

 

1 hour ago, reiks12 said:

so much pressure on Katz

"Hey Ethan, can I throw my curve again?"

"Yeah man"

How Dylan Cease Became An Ace

I'm kidding about it being that simple, but man, give Cease his groove back 

I like this. 

I think a big advantage Giolito had over Cease is just the incredible High School situation Giolito was put in. He benefitted from having long-term relationships with people succeeding in majors from other teams, and a coach that had been in majors and was actively coaching. I think he knew who to ask to channel his work ethic into improving as a pitcher.

My impression of Cease was someone who was working hard but without as much purpose. It's a sliver of a percent of people who know how to pitch at that level, let alone what to focus on to develop effectively. Giolito was lucky to know multiple, and now Cease has a guy who is going to be more hands on in helping him push forward and progress.

12 minutes ago, Look at Ray Ray Run said:

I like to keep track of these things in the off-season.

So far we have:

1 - Best SHAPE of his life and finally taking fitness serious report!! - Carlos Rodon
1 - He reworked the complete way he pitches and will suddenly be elite because he cares (as if other players don't) - Dylan Cease
 5 - The new coach is going to change the success of all these players tenfold even though the game only values coaches at about 1 million per year!!! - Every White Sox Pitcher who wasn't already good

 It does not mean those things aren't true, but history does not support these claims on a grand predictive scale but that doesn't mean it's not possible progression and improvement ensues. Most guys are what they are after a certain period of time and the Giolito's are the exception to the rule, not the expected outcome. A lifetime of baseball habits are tough to break in one off-season of training.

With Cease in particular, I feel like many are overlooking his other issues too. I love that he's putting in the work and that his fastball is apparently regaining some rising action, but in my opinion, his #1 issue last year was that he just couldn't throw strikes. While the cut on his fastball probably contributed to that, I don't think it was the main factor, and I struggle to see him revamping his command so quickly and on such a remarkable level to suddenly become an ace

8 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

With Cease in particular, I feel like many are overlooking his other issues too. I love that he's putting in the work and that his fastball is apparently regaining some rising action, but in my opinion, his #1 issue last year was that he just couldn't throw strikes. While the cut on his fastball probably contributed to that, I don't think it was the main factor, and I struggle to see him revamping his command so quickly and on such a remarkable level to suddenly become an ace

Sure it's not common, but Giolito did it with the guy who is now the Sox pitching coach. If anyone has a chance it's Cease.

14 minutes ago, Jose Abreu said:

With Cease in particular, I feel like many are overlooking his other issues too. I love that he's putting in the work and that his fastball is apparently regaining some rising action, but in my opinion, his #1 issue last year was that he just couldn't throw strikes. While the cut on his fastball probably contributed to that, I don't think it was the main factor, and I struggle to see him revamping his command so quickly and on such a remarkable level to suddenly become an ace

We also were told coming into last season that he was working on eliminating the cut on his fastball.

42 minutes ago, bmags said:

I like this. 

I think a big advantage Giolito had over Cease is just the incredible High School situation Giolito was put in. He benefitted from having long-term relationships with people succeeding in majors from other teams, and a coach that had been in majors and was actively coaching. I think he knew who to ask to channel his work ethic into improving as a pitcher.

My impression of Cease was someone who was working hard but without as much purpose. It's a sliver of a percent of people who know how to pitch at that level, let alone what to focus on to develop effectively. Giolito was lucky to know multiple, and now Cease has a guy who is going to be more hands on in helping him push forward and progress.

Cease also gets too cerebral. Gio is a thinker but that comes with more natural intensity and competitiveness. Not better or worse just different. 

1 hour ago, knightni said:

Better that than a Capitol-invading member of the Gravy Seals.

ha I was thinking of a snappy comeback but your was better. good stuff

1 hour ago, Jose Abreu said:

With Cease in particular, I feel like many are overlooking his other issues too. I love that he's putting in the work and that his fastball is apparently regaining some rising action, but in my opinion, his #1 issue last year was that he just couldn't throw strikes. While the cut on his fastball probably contributed to that, I don't think it was the main factor, and I struggle to see him revamping his command so quickly and on such a remarkable level to suddenly become an ace

Yes, last off-season we saw videos of Cease working in the pitch lab and getting on top of the ball and eliminating Cut. It was all the fad. The camera's were going to save Cease.

The problem with all of this is that when you've done something one way for a long period of time, your body tends to want to do that thing again. Cease has never, in his professional life, had avg/+avg command. Even when he had "rise" instead of cut on his fastball he still wasn't throwing strikes. The glaring difference between Giolito and Cease is that Gilito had something to go back to; he had been incredibly successful and dominant in his professional life prior and then an adjustment by the Nats destroyed that. Giolito wasn't changing the way he pitched as much as he was simply going back to something he once felt comfortable with and refinding himself with a guy who knew him really well; another thing I think fans overlook with Katz and their assumption he's going to save everyone. He doesn't know any pitchers like he knows Giolito.

Cease has nothing to go back to regarding command because he's never had it as a prospect. If you can't command your fastball in the big leagues it doesn't really matter how hard you throw or the rise on your stuff. His curveball didn't work because he never got ahead in the count. I have a hard time believing a pitching coach is going to change that issue in one off-season. I'm hopeful but incredibly skeptical.

Giolito is doing what he should do; giving his teammate confidence. One other major difference between the two is that Giolito is 6'6 and Cease is 6'2.