Dylan Cease joins remarkable company with latest outing

Starting pitcher Dylan Cease starred for the Chicago White Sox on Sunday in a 6-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Cease threw six shutout innings against Cleveland, and in the process, put himself into an exclusive club, previously exclusively occupied by one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game.

Over an 11-start stretch in 1968, St. Louis Cardinals ace and Hall of Famer Bob Gibson allowed only three earned runs. For the last 54 years, he’s been the only starting pitcher in Major League Baseball history to do that. Following Sunday’s performance, though, Cease joined Gibson.

As far as which run was more impressive, it’s hard to say. None of Cease’s starts have lasted more than 11 innings. Every one of Gibson’s starts over his 11-game run was a complete game. On the other hand, Cease’s era is much more hitter-friendly. The 1968 season was the Year of the Pitcher and immediately after it, the pitching mound was lowered. Furthermore, Cease has to deal with a designated hitter in all of his starts. Gibson never did.

But regardless of which side you come down on in that debate, doing something that had previously only been done by Gibson in 1968 is special. Gibson finished the 1968 season with a 1.12 ERA, allowing 38 total earned runs in 34 starts. Not only is that easily the greatest season in the career of one of the greatest pitchers ever, but it’s probably the best season that any starting pitcher has ever had.

The baseball world praised the latest great outing from one of baseball’s best current pitchers.

Indeed, while Cease was inexplicably left off of the All-Star team, he’s on a short list of leaders in the American League Cy Young race, along with the similarly hot Justin Verlander.

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