Asked and Answered

Well, I wanted to know what Dylan Cease would do in what I saw as the May version of a must-win game. Cease responded by going 5.2 innings, giving up 0 earned runs. The young right-hander left trailing the Royals 1-0 in a game the White Sox would win 4-3 with Jose Abreu scoring the winning run—maybe, you watch the video and decide—on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth. I’d like to think Cease could’ve gone deeper if only…Captain Clank hadn’t gotten in the way. And who might the Captain be, you ask? Why, catcher Yasmani Grandal, of course. You know, he of the big contract and .132 BA. To his credit, Grandal added a few points to his average, going 1 for 4, and he looked great standing at the plate while Abreu came barreling in during his at-bat. But getting back to Cease, the one run charged against him was set up by a Grandal passed ball in the first inning. Our number one catcher has four PBs on the year to with his three errors, all on catcher’s interference. Cease threw 88 pitches. Was that enough by manager Tony La Russa’s count? Maybe there’s a new math I don’t know about or an unwillingness to change catchers. Is it too late for a do-over with James McCann?