The anticipated winners of the AL Cy Young award are no surprise, but the White Sox ace can only be disregarded for so long given Dylan Cease’s dominance.
Justin Verlander, a seasoned pitcher for the Houston Astros, had been rewinding the clock to such an extraordinary degree as of Saturday that he was the overwhelming favorite to take home the AL Cy Young trophy. However, Shane McClanahan, a rookie ace for the Tampa Bay Rays, is not far behind him in the race.
Verlander is currently the -125 favorite to win, while McClanahan is currently the +250 underdog. The next candidate, at +2000, is followed by a sharp decrease before you reach Dylan Cease of the Chicago White Sox at +400.
Cease deserves more attention than he is receiving this season as an AL Cy Young candidate, despite being the lone pitcher in the same league as Verlander and McClanahan.
The White Sox should give Dylan Cease more serious Cy Young consideration due to his dominance
The White Sox won again on Friday night thanks to Cease, who pitched six innings and improved his season record to 12-4 while allowing just two hits, three walks, one earned run, and five strikeouts (a season low).
But with that performance, the mustachioed pitcher made history by becoming the first starter, openers excluded, to allow 1 or fewer earned runs in 13 straight starts since earned runs became a stat in 1913.
The 26-year-old right-hander put up a spectacular performance, and he has more to back it up. He has a 1.98 ERA, which places him third among starting pitchers in baseball; 12.0 strikeouts per 9 innings, which puts him top among qualifiers; and a 1.16 WHIP. Again, in 13 starts, he hasn’t given up more than one earned run.
This season, there is nothing you can say to sufficiently diminish Verlander and McClanahan; both pitchers have been outstanding.
But Cease’s performance for the White Sox has been equally impressive. He’s one of the top three contenders for the Cy Young Award, but given how dominant he’s been, he truly deserves to be at the top of the list.
