Dylan Cease said he was scratched from consecutive starts in 2017 with South Bend, the Class A affiliate of the Chicago Cubs.
“Everyone was joking, ‘Hey, you’re getting traded,’ ” Cease said Saturday. “I don’t know if any of us were taking it serious.”
Turns out, the jokes were right on the money.
The Cubs dealt Cease and Eloy Jimenez to the Chicago White Sox for Jose Quintana on July 13, 2017.
Cease navigated his way through the Sox system and joined the big-league team before the All-Star break last season. On Sunday, he’ll face his former team for the first time in Game 3 of the City Series at Wrigley Field.
Cease, 24, said it will be a special moment.
“This is one of the most historic parks around,” the right-hander said. “You can almost feel it when you’re here. It really is something special, so … it’s pretty mind-blowing that I get to do it. I’m excited and hopefully we can pull one out.”
The Cubs selected Cease in the sixth round of the 2014 draft. He had Tommy John surgery in 2014, which delayed the start of his minor-league career. He pitched in the Cubs system in 2015, ’16 and portions of ’17. Cease remembers getting a phone call around 10 a.m. when he found out he was traded.
“I got the call and it was like, ‘Hey, someone from the White Sox is going to reach out to you,’ ” Cease said. “I packed up my stuff and drove down to somewhere in South Carolina to meet my new team.
“The biggest thing was how quick it all happened. In the blink of an eye, I was in a new organization, on a new team, surrounded by new people.”
Cease went 4-7 with a 5.79 ERA in 14 starts as a rookie last season for the Sox. He’s 4-1 this season with a 3.16 ERA in five starts.
“Dylan continues to scratch at the surface to try to get himself through games without allowing too much damage, trying to be more efficient,” Sox manager Rick Renteria said. “He’s commanding his pitches a little better and he continues to grow up at the major-league level, learning how to pitch. The confidence is there, the stuff is there.
“There’s a significant difference from this year and last year. Pitch totals seem to be getting better — he’s able to get a little deeper.”
Cease allowed two runs on five hits with three walks and three strikeouts in 6? innings in a 10-4 victory Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers at Guaranteed Rate Field. It was his fourth consecutive win.
He has a 1.93 ERA and 16 strikeouts, and opponents are hitting .229 (19-for-83) against him during the stretch.
“I wouldn’t say I’ve executed to the top of my abilities, so the fact we’ve been able to win those games is really big for me,” Cease said. “I’ve done a good enough job to keep us in it, which is important.
“But for me, I’m always looking to try to take it to the next level. It really is just a feel and it can be one day you’re throwing and all of the sudden you’ve got it. It’s just one of those where you have to come to the ballpark every day and work for it.”
That work continues Sunday against his former organization.
“They have such a good team and such a good lineup that it’s that much more important to do well against them,” Cease said. “And then if you do well against them, it’s just that much more of you basically say, ‘Hey, you did your job well, you executed.’
“For me it’s amplified in that regard, not necessarily because it’s my old team. At the end of the day, they did a lot for me. I definitely respect them as a team, and it makes me want to pitch as well as I can against them.”
Jimenez has had success against the Cubs, with three homers in his first five games. Cease wouldn’t mind having a big moment of his own Sunday.
“If I can do anything similar to what he’s done against them, we’ll be in a good spot,” Cease said.