Who Would Win In A Fight To The Death Between Alex Rodriguez and Ben Affleck?
I don't fucking kno, nor do I fucking care. Prolly A Rod because he's huge and Affleck is a old, washed up up bag of milk... but then again that little runt Dallas Braden shit talked A Rod to his face for jogging back to the dugout across the mound and A Rod did a whole lot of NOTHING, so who knows, maybe he just doesn't have that loose cannon gene in him and Affleck would get a lucky shot or two. Gun to head I'm going A Rod though. That's all I gotta say about that.
...but whatever. That's not what we're here to talk about today. We're here to talk about the transformation that has been Dylan Cease over his last two starts. Yes, one was against the AAAA Detroit Tigers. Can't control the schedule, who you play against or when you play them. You CAN, however, control the kind of shit you're feeding opposing lineups, and Dylan Cease' shit has been FILTHY.
He's embraced Codify, a newer technology that helps pitchers maximize their command - a technology that the white sox have fully embraced - which I wrote about here. He's working with MUCH better tempo. The Cy Young caliber shit was always there, but he had never learned how to harness it until recently and it's been a TON of fun to watch.
Just look at his "shit" YoY from 2020 to now:
Here's 2020:
And here's 2021:
That's a MASSIVE improvement. That, my friends, you love to see.
Now, I fully understand that it's only been 2 starts where Cease has been the best version of himself. He could go on a 10 start roll where he dominates, or he could revert back to his old self and labor through 4.2 while throwing 110 pitches. BUT BUT BUT, after dissecting each pitch, his mechanics, and his body language over the last two starts, I choose to think we'll see the former moving forward. Pair that with Gio, Lynn, Keuchel and Rodon, and you have what might just be the very best rotation in baseball and we all already know how I feel about their bullpen.
This staff is fucking loaded.
And today, with the Sox back at a raucous Sox Park against their hated rival Minnesota Twins, we're going to bet Cease at 7+ Ks and a Sox win at +280. I LOVE this bet. If I were in Chicago, I would legally and responsibly make this wager and if you're in IL, PA or MI, I'd recommend that you do the same.
Let's go!
