8. Dylan Cease, RHP
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 12/28/1995 (22)
2017 teams/levels played for: low-A South Bend Cubs, low-A Kannapolis Intimidators
2017 Stats: 22 GS, 93 1/3 IP, 3.28 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, 11.3% BB, 32.5% K
Info: Cease was part of the underlying strategy of the Cubs’ 2014 draft that had them picking Kyle Schwarber because they could sign him cheap in order to target high school pitching that fell while other teams were in their “senior sign” mode. This is why Cease was a 6th round selection, though he showed among the top velocity of the high school class in 2014 before needing Tommy John his senior year.
Cease returned partway through the 2015 season, and he immediately showed two things – impressive velocity and significant control issues. While his 2016 was a struggle with some unrelated health concerns, he was impressive when on the mound, though with the same concerns in his lack of control. In fact, though his 11.3% walk rate is significantly too high, it is the best rate of his three professional years by over 2%.
This has much to do with the fact that velocity simply doesn’t come easy to Cease. He has some unorthodox movement to his delivery, but more concerning is that he is not consistent in that arm movement as he will sometimes dip his shoulder or his knee or his hip in order to generate just a hair more velocity that particular pitch.
Cease works with a fastball that can touch triple digits and a curve with 12-6 break that generates a ton of swinging strikes. His change has still lagged significantly behind.
As far as organizations for an arm like Cease, there are few that are a better fit for possibly getting starter value out of Cease, however, it’s still notable that he’s going to be 22 in 2018 and hasn’t pitched above low-A or thrown 100 innings in a season to this point. He would be a dynamic reliever if that is the end result, however.
Cease will likely open the season with high-A Winston-Salem, but what will be much more intriguing is to see how Sox pitching guru Don Cooper and his staff can work with Cease to turn him from a thrower into a pitcher.
7. Jake Burger, 3B
Birthday (age on opening day 2018): 4/10/1996 (21)
2017 teams/levels played for: Arizona Rookie League White Sox, low-A Kannapolis Intimidators
2017 Stats: .263/.336/.412, 217 PA, 5 HR, 14/30 BB/K
Info: Technically, Burger will turn 22 within a week of opening day, but he will be 21 when the minor league season does open, so he still fits in that age range. For the Chicago White Sox, he was a definite focus on college power in the draft this season as the Sox paired he and Gavin Sheets in their first two picks. In fact, the White Sox picked just two high school players in the first 30 rounds!
Burger really put his stamp on the 2017 draft class not with his meaty last name, but with his powerful bat at Missouri State. After a solid career smashing baseballs for the Bears, Burger was the Pale Hose’s selection at #11 overall.
Burger really put his stamp on the 2017 draft class not with his meaty last name, but with his powerful bat at Missouri State
Burger certainly had no issue translating that power to the professional level in his debut. He had 10 doubles and 2 triples in addition to his handful of home runs. He has an excellent swing to ensure that the power isn’t a “power-only” swing as well (sub-14% strikeout rate).
He will struggle in game currently against hard breaking stuff on the outside part of the plate from mid-thigh on down. He was able to take a few hard sliders opposite field that were waist-high in my views, so he has the ability to work some on the outside corner if the ball is up. He will simply need to work on that one hole, and frankly, it wasn’t something that resulted in a ton of swing and miss.
Burger’s ability at third is not going to supplant Brooks Robinson in anyone’s mind, but he’s steady at the position with a plus arm that could translate well to left field if need be, as he’s a better athlete than his muscular build would likely indicate, though he also has a frame that could quickly slide down the defensive scale with any bad weight added, so conditioning will need to be a focus.
Burger will open 2018 in Winston-Salem, and he very well could finish his first full season as a pro in the upper minors with a chance to play some significant time in the major leagues in 2019.
Next: #5 and #6