Problems with the 47-72 White Sox have been too numerous to count for months, but in looking ahead to 2024 — what else is there? — mapping out a return to relevancy gets even harder without a return of star production from Dylan Cease and Tim Anderson.
Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Brewers saw Cease without his biggest fastball, and the Sox without Anderson entirely as a home sweep wiped away the good feelings after back-to-back series wins.
“We didn’t put up enough runs,” said Andrew Vaughn, who collected three hits. “Dylan threw a great game, and it stinks we couldn’t back him up.”
Rather than a resolution of his appeal of a six-game suspension for last Saturday’s brawl in Cleveland, Anderson received a day off from manager Pedro Grifol. Ahead of an off day Monday and the imminent adjudication of his appeal, it could still have been the beginning of a lengthy absence for Anderson.
“When they rule, they rule,” Grifol said. “I’m hoping the appeal goes our way.”
But where any games without Anderson in the lineup used to be an anathema for the White Sox chances, the two-time All-Star is now mired in a career-worst offensive season. A hot start to the second half has eroded into a .188/.278/.219 line in August, with strikeouts in a third of his plate appearances.
“The mechanics are a little off right now and today’s a good day for him to get in the cage,” Grifol said. “He’s just got to iron some things out mechanically and get that feel back where he’s using his hands. Which is the best of his swing — those lightning hands.”
Anderson hasn’t helped, but the Sox offense isn’t bursting with alternatives. Without him and Luis Robert Jr., they went scoreless until Carlos Pérez’s two-out RBI double in the ninth, spurning Cease’s season-high seven innings of two-run ball.
“I’m really pleased with some adjustments I’ve made,” Cease said. “I’ve been super focused on staying closed and getting down the mound closed. It seems to be harder to pick up and kind of helped me get in the zone.”
Advanced metrics suggest Cease has pitched better than his 4.32 ERA, and would fare better with a stouter defense behind him this season. But there’s no mistaking the bursts of brilliance with the consistent dominance of his Cy Young runner-up campaign last year.
A tendency to open up early in his delivery emerged after Cease’s electric first start, morphing into a season-long issue. Among the most concrete indicators of it might be a fastball that has lost over a mile per hour from last season, shaving the margin of error when Cease’s command falters. Cease and Sox coaches reiterate that the root of the problem is mechanical, not physical. A heater that averages 95.5 mph is still pretty hard, and Cease showed the ability to rev it up to 97 mph to strike out William Contreras and strand the bases loaded in the fifth.
The 27-year-old believes he can further demonstrate how correctable the issues are over the final six weeks.
“All it takes is getting out of sync a little bit and without realizing it, you’ve reinforced bad habits,” Cease said. “A season like this for me has been a lot of grinding and feeling like I’ve kind of put band-aids on things. But I’m at a point now where I feel like I’ve learned a lot from it and I’m expecting to finish pretty strong.”
Anderson lacks the proof of concept that Cease provided himself Sunday, and likely will have to wait a while until he has another chance. But in reasoning why 2023 could be a one-off for both players, Grifol struck a similar chord.
“These two guys, they’re obsessed with being great, so they don’t concern me at all,” said Grifol. “The great thing about Tim is that he’s an extremely hard worker and he cares. He cares about his game. He cares about this team.”