(670 The Score) NBC Sports Chicago analyst and former 1980 American League Cy Young winner Steve Stone recently argued that White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease has the best stuff of anyone on the team's pitching staff.
So what does Cease think of that lofty praise?
"Ah man, you're going to get me in trouble," Cease said on the Parkins & Spiegel Show on Wednesday afternoon. "The best stuff? I think I'm definitely in the conversation, but with as many talented pitchers as we have on this team, I think it's really hard pin down just one."
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Cease then explained that his brain wandered to specific pitches of his teammates and his when determining the nastiest stuff on the team. And there's no shortage of options, to say the least, as Cease ticked through the arsenal of left-hander Carlos Rodon, ace reliever Michael Kopech, closer Liam Hendriks and right-hander Lucas Giolito.
"I'm thinking of a Carlos Rodon slider, and I think that's hard to beat," Cease said. "I'm thinking of a Kopech or Liam four-seam fastball that looks like it's taking an elevator straight up to the top. Then you've got Gio's changeup. I'm definitely in the conversation, but I don't know if I can say I'm No. 1."
Cease also addressed how he fits into the debate.
"Where I might have an advantage is having the curveball and the slider, which is kind of like the extra good off-speed pitch," Cease said.
Cease, 25, is having a breakout season, going 11-6 with a 3.82 ERA and 1.22 WHIP in 27 starts. He's also coming off a strong August, when he went 4-0 with a 2.83 ERA in six starts.
"Right now, I'm the best that I've ever been in my career, and it's not even close," Cease said. "The main thing I attribute it to would just be the work I've done with (pitching coach) Ethan Katz. That guy has completely revamped and retooled me and given me really a good process to follow. So right now, I'm putting my eyes on the target and I'm just driving as hard as I can on the mound. It's one of those things where I don't really have to think about anything. My body knows what to do, and I just have to go out and execute."
