South Side Sox Player of the Week (May 2-8): Dylan Cease

The school bell rings, and young Dylan Cease bolts upright. The classroom is muggy and the teacher states at him expectantly. He had dozed off during a biology lecture on … what was it again? Oh, right! Schooling Trout.

Dylan Cease did plenty of that last week against the Angels, in what was arguably the greatest start of his career.

He notched 11 strikeouts over seven innings, allowing only a single hit. Three of those strikeouts targeted the formidable Mike Trout, one of the greatest players of the modern era. Cease nailed Trout with a pair of four-seam fastballs, and completed the trifecta with a leisurely changeup.

Cease’s command was effortless, but he dismissed that notion with his usual understated bravado. That outing (an eventual White Sox 3-0 win) further cemented Cease’s role as one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball. It couldn’t come at a more welcome time.

The dog days of summer lie ahead.

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2022 South Side Sox Players of the Week

Tim Anderson (April 8-17)
Tanner Banks (April 18-23)
Lucas Giolito (April 24-May 1)
Dylan Cease (May 2-8)

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MVP Standings

Dylan Cease (33.9)
Michael Kopech (28.5)
Lucas Giolito (17.9)
Tim Anderson (16.0)
Luis Robert (13.9)
Matt Foster (13.2)
Tanner Banks (12.7)
Andrew Vaughn (8.7)
Fans Braving the Cold (7.0)
Vince Velásquez (6.7)

Cold Cat Standings

Leury García (-34.3)
Aaron Bummer (-20.0)
Liam Hendriks (-17.4)
AJ Pollock (-15.3)
Josh Harrison (-13.5)
Jake Burger (-11.7)
Gavin Sheets (-10.0)
Dallas Keuchel (-8.1)
Yasmani Grandal (-8.0)
Tony La Russa (-7.1)

Gavin Sheets had the toughest week this time around, tumbling 17.4 points to swing from eighth place on the MVP list to seventh among Cold Cats leaders. AJ Pollock was not quite so dramatic, but used a -16.4 week to storm onto the Cold Cats at fourth place.

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Writer Standings

Jacki (four games), Ashley (five) and Kristina (six) all snapped long losing streaks, along with the White Sox, this past week.

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If you’re interested in seeing more of Mitch’s work, or if you’d like to purchase original drawings or prints, contact him via Twitter (@soxsketcher), Instagram (@southsidesharpie), or by e-mail at southsidesharpie@gmail.com. Thanks for supporting local artists!