Unless My Eyes Deceive Me

The big news coming out of the opening days of spring training for the White Sox seems to be starter Dylan Cease. People are saying he has Cy Young Award stuff. I may need to have my eyeglass prescription changed. To these uneducated, tech-free eyes, Cease can hum that pea more than he can control it. The problem—again, to these untutored, unaided, eyes—looks to be his mechanics. The 25-year old right hander doesn’t strike me as comfortable on the mound, and new pitching coach Ethan Katz may want to check the video to see if Cease is capable of repeating his delivery from pitch to pitch, let alone batter to batter. Michael Kopech is another story. Every time I see Kopech throw the ball—and I’m assuming they’re showing video from spring 2021—and all I can say is, Wow! The ball comes exploding out Kopech’s right hand at what looks to be 1000 MPH. Batters will swing at the motion from a pitcher with that kind of stuff. That’s the good news. The worrisome part is I’ve heard Cease address the media but not a peep out of Kopech. The idea is for a pitcher to be comfortable on the mound and with reporters. A major league career is impossible without the former, difficult at best without the latter. Guys, you’ve got six weeks to figure out. Please.