PHOENIX, Ariz. — From the first pitch James McCann caught of right-hander Dylan Cease, the new White Sox catcher could tell he was special.
“It was his first bullpen. I didn’t know who he was this being my first camp with the White Sox,” McCann said Monday. “But just seeing his maturity, I thought he was a lot older than he was. You find out he’s only 23 and just his maturity and approach to the game is impressive.”
Cease — the second-ranked pitching prospect in the Sox’ stacked farm system behind Michael Kopech, who will miss the 2019 season after he had Tommy John surgery this offseason — is aware of all the hype surrounding him.
“It doesn’t bother me but I feel like there’s always more to do, always more to get better at so it’s always like I feel like people need to understand that I still have a lot to learn and grow,” he said.
Cease made his second brief relief appearance in Cactus League play on Sunday. He allowed two hits and one earned run in 1⅔ innings.
“Ball was coming out good,” Cease said. “I didn’t execute pitches very well but it was better than my first outing. So it was a good step. I still have a couple of weeks to get my feel for it. I actually feel positive about it.”
Cease, who earned a midseason promotion to Class AA Birmingham from Class A Winston-Salem in 2018, is built up to pitch three innings in his next start. By the end of spring training, Cease would like to be able to get through five innings.
The Sox are taking it slow with Cease, who pitched a career-high 124 innings last season. He’ll likely take a similar path as Kopech did last season and start 2019 with Class AAA Charlotte before getting promoted to the majors sometime after the All-Star break.
Cease said he hasn’t talked to manager Rick Renteria or general manager Rick Hahn about what process they want him to take to prepare for his major-league debut this season.
“I’m guessing probably when I go back to the minor league side, we’ll have a conversation about that,” said Cease, who was named minor-league pitcher of the year by MLBPipeline last season. “All I’ve been focusing on is getting my body ready and playing right now.”
Nicky Delmonico works out
Four days after he left a game with a concussion, utility player Nicky Delmonico passed a preliminary concussion test and rode a bike.
Delmonico, who suffered headaches and light sensitivity after he crashed into the left field wall, still doesn’t quite understand how he suffered the concussion. He said he’s hit the wall harder than that in the past.
“I just remember going for the ball. I thought I caught it,” Delmonico said. “I felt like I was going to fall over and throw up on the field, I’m just glad I didn’t do that and have a meme about me.”
This and That
- The Sox claimed left-hander Josh Osich off waivers from the Orioles and put Kopech on the 60-day disabled list. Osich posted a 4.96 EA in 45⅓ innings with Class AAA Sacramento last season. He also appeared in 12 games with the Giants, posting an 8.25 ERA in 12 innings.
- Relief pitcher Ian Hamilton is still feeling the affects of last month’s car accident. Renteria said Hamilton irritated his pitching shoulder, but doesn’t believe it’s anything serious. His MRI came back fine on Sunday, Renteria said.
