White Sox look to Opening Day starter Dylan Cease to set tone against champion Astros

MESA, Ariz. — After the White Sox made it official Friday, naming Dylan Cease to start the season opener against the Astros on Thursday, Cease made his last Cactus League tuneup and appeared fit for the task.

Against the Athletics at Hohokam Stadium, Cease pitched six scoreless innings of four-hit ball, striking out five batters and walking three. He was helped by three double plays.

There were 5,577 relaxed fans on hand, and Thursday’s game will be sold out at noisy Minute Maid Park, so the environment won’t be close. What’s more, the four-game matchup for the Sox, who were trounced by the Astros in the 2021 American League Division Series and are bent on bouncing back from last season’s disappointment of not making the postseason, is a tough one to start with.

“We’re facing the World Series defenders, and obviously they’re a great team,” Cease said. “It’s good to see kind of how we stack up against them and have a good showing against them and just show last year was not who we are. This is a new year.”

First-year manager Pedro Grifol could have chosen the more experienced Lance Lynn but is going with Cease, who has not pitched on Opening Day, to set the tone. Cease said he has known for some time that he would get the nod, a choice that made sense to everyone and seemed obvious for weeks. He finished second in voting for the AL Cy Young Award to the Astros’ Justin Verlander last season, his fourth in the majors.

“It means a lot,” Cease said. “I’ll do a lot of reflecting tonight and this coming week, thinking about my journey. It’s one of those really incredible honors, and I’m very excited for it.”

Cease said he’ll reflect on “the amount of layers and levels and obstacles that you have to go through to get up to this point, and the amount of success and all that you have to have. It’s unique and definitely special.”

Cease will be opposed by Astros left-hander Framber Valdez, who was fifth in AL Cy Young voting last season.

In order, Lynn, 2022 Opening Day starter Lucas Giolito and Mike Clevinger will follow Cease in the rotation in the four-game series in Houston. Michael Kopech is lined up for the home opener April 3 against the Giants at Guaranteed Rate Field.

“I’m happy with that; that’s really good,” Grifol said of his rotation.

“Starting pitching is extremely important. Our guys are strong, good, hungry.”

It’s an all right-handed rotation, and while it would be nice to have a left-hander to combat certain lineups, Grifol said having all righties would be an issue if they all profiled in the same manner.

“We feel like our starters are different,” Grifol said.

Cease was special in 32 starts last season, with his 227 strikeouts ranking second in the AL behind Gerrit Cole (257) and his 2.20 ERA second behind Verlander (1.75). Cease struck out 12.28 batters per nine innings, a Sox record.

Game time for the opener is 6:08 p.m. (ESPN), and the lights will be bright. The adrenaline, Cease was guessing, will raise his velocity a tick or two above the mid-90s levels he has mostly featured this spring.

“He has an unbelievable demeanor,” Grifol said. “Stress doesn’t bother him. At least he doesn’t show it. That’s a weapon.”

With three seasons under his belt, Cease got only five outs when he faced the Astros in Game 3 of the ’21 ALDS in Chicago. In hindsight, he believes he was over-amped in the first inning. He should be better prepared to handle such moments now.

“Just through experience, we’ll be able to control it a little bit better,” he said.