(670 The Score) White Sox starter Dylan Cease pitches with an analytical mind, constantly considering what he can do to find an edge against hitters.
But in a challenging rookie season in 2019, Cease found the best approach is simple.
"If you fall behind, it's going to be way harder," Cease said. "If you waste a lot of pitches, you're not going to get very deep into games. And if you execute pitches, you're going to be fine."
Cease has found peace with a rookie campaign in which he posted a 5.79 ERA and 1.55 WHIP over 14 starts, because he knew going into the offseason what could be fixed. He wasn't left searching for solutions to his struggles. In his mind, improvement may be as simple as using his pitch selection more efficiently.
Throughout his time at Triple-A and in the big leagues in 2019, Cease discovered his fastball was cutting on him more than he expected. It minimized his intended effect for the pitch, which he wanted to use to get ahead of hitters.
Cease threw his fastball for a called or swinging strike only 22 percent of the time -- and a ball nearly 40 percent of the time (the rest of the instances involved contact). Without an effective fastball, Cease frequently fell behind hitters and suffered the consequences, walking 10.7 percent of hitters and allowing 1.85 homers per nine innings.
Cease realized his fastball command had gotten away from him during the season. The offseason has given him the chance to reset.
"I left the season really feeling like I knew what I needed to work on, what needed to be enhanced," Cease said. "I didn't kill myself thinking about this and that.
"I feel like I'm in a good spot."
With a young roster ready to contend, the White Sox added veterans in Dallas Keuchel and Gio Gonzalez to a rotation that includes Lucas Giolito, Reynaldo Lopez and Cease.
Giolito is coming off an All-Star season in which he posted a 3.41 ERA, an improvement of nearly three points over a dismal 2018. Like Cease, Giolito struggled early in his career in large part because of his failure to use a diverse pitch selection effectively.
While Cease projects to fill a slot in the bottom of the White Sox rotation, a Giolito-like turnaround would help put the team in a strong position to win the AL Central.
Of course, Cease isn't overthinking anything for 2020. He's keeping it simple.
"I always have the expectation just to be the best player I can be," Cease said. "As long as we all have that, something good can happen. I don't tend to think too far off in the distance. But with this team, it's very easy to dream."
Chris Emma covers the Bears, Chicago's sports scene and more for 670TheScore.com. Follow him on Twitter @CEmma670.
