CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- After a rocky start in his MLB debut, White Sox top pitching prospect Dylan Cease showcased Wednesday afternoon why he was worth the wait.
Cease threw five innings of three-run ball to earn a win in his big league debut, as the White Sox topped the Tigers, 7-5, at Guaranteed Rate Field. After allowing two runs in the first inning while walking three and hitting a batter, Cease settled down. He allowed four hits and four walks in all while striking out six.
Cease, 23, threw 101 pitches in all, with 33 coming in the rough first inning before he navigated the next four in a more efficient 68 pitches. The only damage he allowed after the first was a solo homer to Jeimer Candelario in the fifth inning.
"It was a good first start," Cease said. "My fastball command wasn't the best, but I will take a win any time I can get one."
White Sox catcher James McCann could see the pressure that Cease was going through in the first inning and helped change the game plan in the second frame.
"I don't know if it was nerves, anxiety or overexcitement that was happening," McCann said. "I told him that his stuff was plenty good. I asked him to fill up the strike zone with his pitches and he would be fine. I told him the only way they can beat you is if you beat yourself. He settled down and started to make his pitches. He gave us a chance to get a win. I was pumped for him getting his first win."
Cease's ascension to the big leagues is a feel-good the White Sox organization needed to keep the rebuild moving forward. His performance and health will be essential moving forward, as injuries have rocked the organization's pitchers since late last summer.
Cease had posted a 4.48 ERA at Triple-A Charlotte before his call-up and wasn't as sharp recently as he would've liked. White Sox officials have long loved his stuff and were pleased with his mental approach. They thought he would benefit from a new challenge.
"There really wasn't much talk about what I had done there," Cease said about his conversation with the White Sox's brass this season. "I really wasn't dominating in the minors. They said, 'Come to Chicago and just execute your pitches. Just learn and grow.' They did a really good job of not putting too much pressure on me."
Cease is now a permanent member of the White Sox's rotation. He has thrown a total of 73 1/3 innings combined this season. The White Sox's plan calls for him to pitch around 150 innings in 2019, so he shouldn't be skipped often in the second half. Cease threw 124 innings in 2018.
"I was good after getting through that first inning and then getting through five innings total," Cease said. "This gives me a lot of confidence going into the break."
Cease credited McCann with nursing him through his MLB debut.
"Thankfully, I was able to throw some off-speed pitches for strikes because my fastball command wasn't great," Cease said. "(McCann) told me to just follow his lead the first couple of innings and go forward. The advice he gave was just to throw strikes with my pitches and good things are going to happen."
Cease wore No. 84, much to the curiosity of reporters. He explained he chose that because he's "not very partial to numbers" so he just "picked that one."
It was all music to the ears of the White Sox, who are happy to finally see him in Chicago.
"He had everything working today -- Slider, fastball, changeup and curveball," manager Rick Renteria said. "If he continues to command them all, he is going to be pretty good."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
