Despite finishing second in AL Cy Young Award voting this year, White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease continues to get snubbed of league-wide recognition.
The latest occurrence came as Major League Baseball unveiled its fourth-annual All-MLB First and Second Team at the Winter Meetings on Monday night. Cease landed on the Second Team, failing to beat out the following pitchers for a spot on the First Team – Sandy Alcantara (Marlins), Shohei Ohtani (Angels), Justin Verlander (Astros), Framber Valdez (Astros), and Alek Manoah (Blue Jays).
Here’s a complete breakdown of each team’s honorees:
First Team
C: J.T. Realmuto (Phillies)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt (Cardinals)
2B: Jose Altuve (Astros)
SS: Trea Turner (Dodgers)
3B: Manny Machado (Padres)
OF: Aaron Judge (Yankees)
OF: Mookie Betts (Dodgers)
OF: Mike Trout (Angels)
DH: Yordan Alvarez (Astros)
SP: Sandy Alcantara (Marlins)
SP: Shohei Ohtani (Angels)
SP: Justin Verlander (Astros)
SP: Framber Valdez (Astros)
SP: Alek Manoah (Blue Jays)
RP: Edwin Díaz (Mets)
RP: Emmanuel Clase (Guardians)
Second Team
C: Will Smith (Dodgers)
1B: Freddie Freeman (Dodgers)
2B: Andrés Giménez (Guardians)
SS: Francisco Lindor (Mets)
3B: Nolan Arenado (Cardinals)
OF: Julio Rodríguez (Mariners)
OF: Kyle Schwarber (Phillies)
OF: Kyle Tucker (Astros)
DH: Shohei Ohtani (Angels)
SP: Julio Urías (Dodgers)
SP: Dylan Cease (White Sox)
SP: Max Fried (Braves)
SP: Aaron Nola (Phillies)
SP: Max Scherzer (Mets)
RP: Ryan Helsley (Cardinals)
RP: Ryan Pressly (Astros)
Cease, 26, had his long-awaited breakout season and continued the trend of improving upon his previous season’s numbers. The righty was the owner of a 14-8 record, 2.20 ERA (184.0 IP/45 ER), 227 strikeouts, 3.10 FIP, 1.109 WHIP, and 227 strikeouts in 32 starts. Despite being one of the more notable All-Star snubs, Cease finished the season ranked second among qualified AL starters in ERA, strikeouts, and opponents average (.190) and third in strikeouts per nine innings (11.10).
Circling back to that All-Star snub, it’s interesting to note the following excerpt from MLB.com:
“While the All-Star Game honors the best players from the season’s first half and the end-of-season awards are distributed to the top players in each league, only the All-MLB Team takes into consideration the totality of the entire season while also honoring the best players across the Major Leagues, as a whole.”
via Paul Casella
The picks of the Cy Young Award Winners – Verlander (AL) and Alcantara (NL) – were no doubters. Beyond that, the other three are a bit questionable and up for plenty of debate.
As expected, White Sox fans were rightfully upset with the results.
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Featured Photo: © Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
