Dylan Cease Cy Young Odds: White Sox Ace Still Behind an Injured Justin Verlander Following Near No-Hitter Saturday

Chicago White Sox ace Dylan Cease might just be the best pitcher in the game of baseball right now.

After being snubbed from the All-Star Game earlier in the season, Cease has been dominant all second half, with his stellar rise to stardom culminating in a close bid for a no-hitter on Saturday night.

With a no-no through 8.2 innings, Cease allowed his first hit when Minnesota Twins leadoff man Luis Arraez lined a base hit into right-center field on a hanging off-speed pitch.

It was one of few mistakes Dylan Cease made all night long.

WOW!!! Dylan Cease loses the no-hitter with two outs in the 9th! pic.twitter.com/QItZL9DBDI

— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) September 4, 2022

Still, Dylan Cease was able to finish the complete game shutout during the very next at bat, capping off one of the most dominant performances we’ve seen from a starting pitcher all season long.

During the masterpiece, Cease struck out seven Twins while walking just two batters.

For a while, Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander has been considered a lock to win the AL Cy Young Award. But given his recent injury — and Cease’s dominance — the White Sox flamethrower has been able to close the gap.

Check out the latest Cy Young odds, per DraftKings.

Justin Verlander Still Slight Favorite Over Dylan Cease to Win AL Cy Young

• Justin Verlander: -150
• Dylan Cease: +100
• Shane McClanahan : +2200
• Shohei Ohtani: +4000
• Alek Manoa: +7500
• Framber Valdez: +7500

Justin Verlander is having one of his best seasons in his Hall of Fame career, but is currently on the injured list with a calf problem.

“I feel like I really kind of dodged a bullet here where the muscle isn’t actually involved,” Verlander said earlier in the week to ESPN. “It’s the fascia, which I feel pretty fortunate about because I didn’t realize how serious even a very minor muscle calf injury can be. If that were to happen, we’d be having a much different conversation.”

Given where the Astros stand in their division standings, they’ll likely take a patient approach with Verlander’s injury, with the emphasis on getting him back to 100% before the postseason begins.

Even though Dylan Cease has a very real chance to take the Cy Young Award from Justin Verlander’s grasp, he’s keeping his focus on trying to get a disappointing White Sox team to the playoffs following his no-hit bid on Saturday night.

“We’re fighting for this division, and obviously this shows how much fight we still have left,” said Cease, who is 7-3 with a 1.21 ERA against AL Central foes.

“We just got to keep it rolling.”

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