Strikeouts.
This is a stat that isn’t all that friendly when it comes to hitting.
Hitting a baseball is one of the hardest things to do in sports and striking out leaves a bad taste in hitters’ mouths.
But for pitchers, strikeouts are a great thing, and one pitcher in particular is enjoying them quite a bit in 2022.
American League Cy Young hopeful and Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease has struck out a ton of hitters this season, 154 to be exact, which is the most in all of baseball.
MLB on FOX Sports tweeted a graphic featuring the four pitchers with the most strikeouts in all of baseball, and Cease finds himself in the same company as Gerrit Cole (153), Corbin Burnes (149), and AL Cy Young favorite Shane McClanahan (147).
Here are the current MLB strikeout leaders 🔥⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ugYsdAfaUV
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) July 26, 2022
Cease Fire
Cease is putting together a really solid season.
It’s a shame that he didn’t get a chance to compete in the All-Star Game this year, as he was one of many stars who were ultimately snubbed.
But that doesn’t seem to matter to the 26-year-old right-hander.
Cease is 10-4 on the season with 2.03 ERA in 20 starts and has put himself in a good position to challenge McClanahan for the Cy Young Award in the American League.
With the injuries and struggles the White Sox rotation has endured this season, Cease has done a tremendous job at providing a little bit of a stopgap, somebody the White Sox can turn to when things aren’t going right, and somebody who can help stop a losing skid.
He’s been that guy for the White Sox.
He’s a strikeout machine and has emerged as the ace of Chicago’s pitching staff.
We’ll see if he can keep it up.
NEXT: Dylan Cease Continues To Pace MLB After Glaring Snub