White Sox fans are eager for the day when all of the organization’s top prospects will have joined the rebuilding big-league club.
The slow and steady promotion of prospects could continue soon with pitcher Dylan Cease, MLB’s 18th-ranked prospect. He’s “getting awfully close” to being ready, general manager Rick Hahn said Friday.
And fans wouldn’t be the only ones excited. Manager Rick Renteria is just as excited for the day that Cease and other prospects join the team, too.
“We’re starting to see some of the young men obviously here at the big-league level,” Renteria said. “And soon, as the other men that are within our organization, as they continue to experience and develop and arrive here on the scene with us as Chicago White Sox, it’s going to be a pretty exciting time.
“(With Cease) here’s another starting arm that we have within the system that they did a great job at acquiring. Hopefully he will be able to transition flawless into it, always understand that there’s a learning curve. But the stuff that he brings to the table, it’s pretty good. We look forward to that time.”
The Sox have given no indication Cease will get a call-up before the All-Star Break, but an opportune time for his debut awaits Wednesday with a day-night doubleheader against last-place Detroit. The Sox have not any announced starters for the series.
The Sox need more from their starting pitching going forward, which Hahn conceded during Friday’s media session.
Starting pitcher Ivan Nova gave the club six innings and allowed four runs in a 10-3 loss to the Twins on Saturday. He remains winless at home and 3-7 on the season
The bullpen didn’t fare any better, combining to allow six runs in the final three innings. The Sox gave up five home runs, including a 469-foot smash by Nelson Cruz in the ninth inning.
“We remain in Year 3 of this rebuild,” Hahn said. “We still remain focused on trying to build the best possible team for the long run. Even if you’re talking about jumping up and grabbing the second wild card, that’s not what this rebuild was all about. It was about the long term, and we’re not going to compromise that.”
Cease’s numbers at Triple-A Charlotte aren’t otherworldly, but his stuff is impressive. He’s 5-2 with a 4.48 ERA this season at Charlotte and has struck out 73 batters in 68 1/3 innings. His last start was a rain-shortened outing Thursday, which would put him on track to be ready for a potential start Wednesday.
“He’s in a good spot right now,” Hahn said. “He’s in a good spot mentally. He’s in a good spot physically right now. He’s getting closer to helping us. We’ve always said that at some point over the course of the 2019 season we envisioned him joining us as a natural progression.”
Hahn wouldn’t speculate on whether there was anything in particular Cease needed to prove before his call-up.
“We’ve had these conversations with him internally, and we’ll leave it at that,” Hahn said. “But he’s getting awfully close.”
Renteria said he’s had conversations here and there with Cease throughout the season just as he does with all players. He noted the Sox will create a plan to develop the 23-year-old right-hander with an appropriate innings limit.
“It’s one of those things that we’ll deal with when he ultimately arrives,” Renteria said. “What that number will be, that’s a discussion to be had. We’ll try to manage that as best as we can in order to allow him to pitch as many games as possible during the course of the season.”
If Sox fans have their way, that’s a plan the organization will need to develop soon.
