TEMPE, Ariz. — Life without Dylan Cease will occur at some point before the White Sox’ ace reaches free agency after the 2025 season.
And should it happen before the 2024 All-Star break, reinforcements will be needed to at least carry the workload that Cease has provided the last three seasons while emerging as one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League.
That’s why it’s important for Erick Fedde and Garrett Crochet to build endurance during spring training while Noah Schultz, Jake Eder and Jonathan Cannon gain experience in the minors.
The Sox thought so much of Fedde after he had a 20-6 record and 2.00 ERA for the NC Dinos of the Korea Baseball Organization last season that they signed him to a two-year, $15 million contract with the likelihood that he will follow Cease in the rotation.
Fedde showed some flashes of promise in his 2024 spring debut Sunday by getting All-Star outfielder Mike Trout to chase a slider for a strikeout and freezing Brandon Drury on an inside fastball for a third strike to end the first inning.
Fedde allowed a soft RBI single to Nolan Schanuel in the first. His fastball averaged 93-95 mph during his two-inning, 44-pitch outing.
Manager Pedro Grifol is eager to look at his starters the rest of spring training with the hope that they can provide endurance.
“More than one guy is going to have to give us innings,” Grifol said. “Not just Fedde and Dylan. We need some innings. This game is about starting pitching. Maybe it doesn’t work that way in the playoffs, but it certainly works like that during the season. We need innings, so we’re going to have to get it somewhere.”
Fedde, who threw 180 innings en route to earning best pitcher and most valuable player honors in the KBO in 2023, relishes his task.
“I’ve played with guys like Max Scherzer,” said Fedde, who pitched for at least parts of six seasons with the Nationals. “When he starts, the bullpen [says], ‘Thank goodness, he’s giving us seven.’ I want to be that guy.”
The Sox ranked around the middle of the pack last season as their starters averaged slightly under 5„ innings per start.
Crochet regained the dominance he displayed before Tommy John surgery that sidelined him for all of 2022. He struck out Trout, Anthony Rendon and Taylor Ward on called third strikes in the third, and one radar gun clocked Crochet’s fastball from 97 to 100 mph.
His performance came five days after striking out Shohei Ohtani and Jason Heyward of the Dodgers in his spring debut.
“Right now, I feel like I’m rocking on all cylinders,” Crochet said.
All of Crochet’s 72 major-league games have been as a reliever, but he was a dominant starter at the University of Tennessee and has quickly gotten acclimated to his starting routine.
“There’s not really room for that emotion for me right now,” said Crochet, who threw 18 of 29 pitches for strikes during his two-inning stint. “I have to work and earn it.”
Given Crochet’s recent history of injuries, it might behoove the Sox to take extra care of their prized left-hander’s arm until he has built enough endurance to start every fifth day.
Crochet didn’t want to project a goal in terms of innings and starts, but he sounds firm in his goal to become entrenched as a starter — perhaps with some extra rest.
“The idea of an innings limit is kind of outdated,” Crochet said. “I think the five-day routine will be huge for me. I guess we’ll kind of see.”
