White Sox, Tigers debuting pitchers in twin bill
The hype surrounding the eventual debut of Chicago White Sox right-hander Dylan Cease seemingly started when the rebuilding White Sox acquired him in a trade with the crosstown Chicago Cubs nearly two years ago.
On Wednesday, the buzz should reach a crescendo once Cease fires the first pitch of a home doubleheader against the Detroit Tigers. The prospect ranked No. 3 in the organization and 18th in major league baseball according to MLB.com is coming to the South Side.
"I think probably everybody is looking for him to be challenged now," White Sox manager Rick Renteria told reporters. "Everybody feels this is the right time."
Cease joins Chicago from Triple-A Charlotte, where he was 5-2 with a 4.48 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 15 starts covering 68 1/3 innings. In two organizational stops in 2018 -- Advanced-A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham -- Cease went 12-2 with a 2.40 ERA in 23 starts while fanning 160 batters in 124 innings.
"He's done a really nice job of just gathering more knowledge down there and getting his innings in," Renteria said. "This will be a situation now where he comes in here and has to perform."
Led by American League All-Star ace right-hander Lucas Giolito, the White Sox starting rotation would welcome consistent support in the next rotation slots, especially as Chicago approaches .500 and contends for an AL wild-card spot.
"It's kind of a coincidence that his arrival is coming at the right time for us, where we need someone to maybe help stabilize us in the rotation," Renteria said. "It just worked out that the timing is what it is. Hopefully, it works out that it does help us stabilize. It's another young man who's going to go through a process of continuing to learn at the major league level."
Detroit left-hander Daniel Norris (2-7 4.62 ERA) will oppose Cease in his first appearance since leaving Friday's start against the Washington Nationals after five innings with a left groin cramp. In seven career games against the White Sox -- including five starts -- Norris is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA. He is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts in 2019.
Another starting pitcher is set to make his MLB debut in the nightcap: Tigers left-hander Tyler Alexander.
Alexander, who was born in Chicago, was 2-9 with a 6.23 ERA in 15 appearances -- including 14 starts -- for Triple-A Toledo. Alexander uses an unconventional arm slot and produced a string of 13 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings in June.
"He's easy to root for, easy to get behind," said Tigers catcher Bobby Wilson, who handled Alexander at Toledo at times this season. "He puts his head down and he gets to the grind of things. You have a lot of respect for people like him who are the underdogs, who don't complain or make excuses and just keep working and trying to get better."
Right-hander Ross Detwiler (1-0, 3.60) is set to make his second start for the White Sox after the club selected his contract from Charlotte last week. Detwiler pitched five innings, allowing six hits and two runs with no walks and one strikeout to defeat the Minnesota Twins on Friday, his first win in the majors since 2016.
A veteran of 191 appearances and 84 starts over parts of 11 seasons, Detwiler has not faced the Tigers.
--Field Level Media
