Dylan Cease

Position: RH SP
Born: 12/28/1995
Ht: 6’2″ Wt: 190 lb
Acquired: Received from Cubs in Jose Quintana trade on July 13, 2017
Career Stats

FutureSox Prospect Rankings

  • #10 – 2017 Midseason
  • #6 – 2018 Preseason
  • #5 – 2018 Midseason
  • #3 – 2019 Preseason
  • #3 – 2019 Midseason

FutureSox Media

Accolades

  • Northwest League All-Star, 2016 Postseason
  • Midwest League All-Star, 2017 Midseason
  • Carolina League All-Star, 2018 Midseason
  • Futures Game, 2018
  • MLB Pipeline Pitcher of the Year, 2018

Scouting Report

While Eloy Jimenez was the clear centerpiece of the Jose Quintana trade, Cease is a strong prospect in his own right. A Tommy John surgery when he was a prep ruined his chances of going in the first round of the 2014 draft, but he scored an over-slot deal ($1.5 million) in the sixth round with the Cubs. The Cubs were very cautious with Cease, who didn’t make his pro debut until mid-2015. He was on a strict innings limits at every stop.

After 24 innings in a brief rookie season debut, Cease unleashed his plus stuff on the short-season Northwest League, striking out 66 batters and walking 25 over just 44.2 innings while posting a 2.22 ERA. In 2017 he was moved up to Low-A South Bend, where he put up similar numbers, striking out 79 batters to 26 walks over 51.2 innings with a 2.79 ERA prior to the trade. He wasn’t quite as dominant in 9 starts with Kannapolis (A) but still missed plenty of bats (11.2 K/9) and improved his walk rate. He was shut down just a tad early with some arm soreness.

His first full year with the White Sox, 2018, was a coming out party of sorts. Cease was nails in 13 starts in Winston-Salem (2.89 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, 3.5 BB/9, 10.3 K/9). He was even better statistically at Double-A Birmingham in 10 more starts (1.72 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 3.8 BB/9, 13.4 K/9) before being shut down in August on an innings limit.

He moved up to Triple-A Charlotte in 2019 and was inconsistent. He had a 4.48 ERA with 73 strikeouts and 32 walks in 68.1 innings. His stuff often overpowered minor league hitters, but his command struggles made numerous starts laborious.

Cease features a plus fastball that sits 93-98 and has hit 100. It has lots of life and the movement outperforms his command currently. Fastball command is his biggest weak spot. Cease’s fastball gets headlines, but he has a true hammer curveball that some scouts feel has more potential than his fastball. His slider and changeup both show better than average potential as well. His improvements with those pitches have silenced most of the thoughts some had that he was destined for the bullpen. If Cease can improve his fastball command he has the ceiling of a No. 2 starter.