Dylan Cease And San Diego Padres Proving To Be A Match Made In Heaven
Right-handed ace has been a revelation for the Padres, and he was historically mesmerizing in his latest start on Monday...
Fortune favors the brave.
For all those who questioned what on God’s green earth the San Diego Padres were doing when they swung a big-time trade for RHP Dylan Cease in spring training, the answer has now become pretty damn clear.
The Padres were acquiring a legit ace who could keep them in playoff contention all year long.
Okay, so we’re still in April and you are a fool if you put too much stock into anything that happens during the first few weeks of the season. However, there is no denying that Dylan Cease has proved to be one hell of a pickup for San Diego so far.
Cease, who was acquired from the Chicago White Sox a couple of weeks prior to Opening Day, has been money for the Padres. In five starts, the righty owns a stellar 1.82 ERA with 35 strikeouts in 29 2/3 innings of work.
Furthermore, Cease has now tossed four consecutive starts of six innings or more with two runs or fewer.
In other words, he has been pretty much unhittable.
Arguably, Cease’s best outing in a Padres uniform came on Monday at Coors Field, which is normally a house of horrors for pitchers. Not so for Cease. No, the ace instead embraced the challenge awaiting him, and passed the rocky test of pitching in the Mile High City with distinction.
Hang on, I’m probably doing a disservice to what we witnessed from the 28-year-old on Monday. And I say that because what Cease did at Coors Field has never been done before. And it probably won’t be done again in a hurry, either.
Cease delivered seven innings of one-hit ball with no walks, while striking out eight. What made the outing historic was the fact that no pitcher had ever tossed that many innings with one or no hits and no walks at Coors.
Nobody.
And that speaks volumes as to just how elite Cease has been to start his career in a Padres uniform.
He had all of his pitches working for him, with his filthy slider causing the most destruction. Cease mowed down 21 of the 22 batters he faced on Monday, including retiring 12 batters in a row at one point.
While Coors Field, which sits 5,280 miles above sea level, is enough to give even the elite of the elite among pitchers nightmares that will last decades, Cease was resistant to its formidable and intimidating terrors.
It was breathtaking watching Cease dismantle the Rockies lineup with absolute ease.
This is an ace who is truly pitching at the very peak of his powers right now.
And that’s exactly why the Padres swung for the fences to trade for the starter.
Many people questioned why San Diego - seemingly in a transition year, although I’ve never bought into that school of thought given the star power in that lineup - would give up several assets to acquire a player of Cease’s caliber. But we’re seeing exactly why they would right now.
Cease, pitching at the elite level he currently is, is one of the best pitchers in the game and he will give his team the best opportunity to win every single time he is on the mound.
He is now 3-1 on the year with a 1.82 ERA, 0.742 WHIP, 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 0.9 WAR. He leads the National League with just 3.3 hits allowed per nine innings. Four of Cease’s five outings have been quality starts. Furthermore, the righty has allowed just one hit to right-handed batters in 29 2/3 innings this season - that’s a .019 (1-for-52) batting average off Cease.
The Padres are currently 13-12 on the year and are second in the National League West at the time of writing this. They have a potent lineup - a lineup that has a .405 slugging percentage, ninth-best in MLB - and should be in contention for a Wild Card spot all year long.
That will especially be the case if Cease continues to pitch like a Cy Young contender. The Padres went all out to acquire Cease because having a legit ace atop the rotation can be the difference between making the playoffs and not making the playoffs. With Cease leading that rotation, San Diego has given itself a significantly better chance of having a bounce-back season.
Okay, so we need to see how the entire year plays out first but, based on what we’ve seen so far, the Padres being ultra-aggressive by going all out to acquire an elite frontend starter is already paying off in a big, big way.
In many ways, San Diego was always a legit ace away from being a really good team, and it now has exactly that in Cease, who is holding up his end of the bargain so far.