DETROIT -- If all goes well for Dylan Cease during Game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader vs. the Tigers, the White Sox rookie will surpass 100 innings for the season.

He enters big league start No. 6 with 96 1/3 innings between stops at Triple-A Charlotte and the White Sox, moving closer to his career-high of 124, set last season. The Sox will continue to be careful with Cease’s usage, a plan dating all the way back to this past Spring Training, but with 10 or 11 individual starts remaining over Chicago's final 53 games, Cease hopes to make all of them.

“Hopefully I get to make all of them and go deep into them,” Cease said. “I feel like my body is actually feeling more ready for innings. So, I feel good.

“Right now, I don’t even feel fatigued whatsoever. Last year toward the end, I definitely felt a little tired. But right now, I feel fantastic.”

Cease said that fatigue manifested itself through his body not moving well in 2018, as opposed to the strength he feels now. He enters Tuesday’s outing with a 6.43 ERA and 27 strikeouts against 14 walks over 28 innings.

But the right-hander also is coming off his best start of the season, thrown this past Thursday against the Mets. Cease feels quite a bit different in regard to overall preparation compared to his Major League debut against the Tigers on July 3, which also came in Game 1 of a doubleheader.

“Yeah, there’s definitely a lot of things to get comfortable with at the big league level that are different,” Cease said. “So, the fact that I can be here every day and keep seeing things and learning things and experiencing it, it’s definitely helping me.

“It’s something I have to figure out and work on every single day. So, me saying a week ago I felt good isn’t that relevant today. But if you get a good feel then you can build on that and build on that and build on that. Then it can snowball. ... If I’m feeling good and executing pitches, the numbers are going to be good. I don’t worry too much about numbers.”

Skole ready in reserve

Matt Skole, who turned 30 last Tuesday, was making a sandwich after batting practice prior to Charlotte’s contest last Thursday when he got a tap on the side from manager Mark Grudzielanek.

“He said, ‘Hey, you are going up to the show, kid.’ I was like ‘You are messing with me,’” Skole said. “He was like, 'No, serious.' It was a pretty cool moment.

“Then of course, my flight was delayed and the whole nine yards. But I made it, so it worked out nicely.”

Skole arrived in Philadelphia about 3 a.m. ET on Friday and then delivered a key pinch-hit single with two outs and two strikes in the ninth to forge a tie in a game the White Sox eventually won in 15 innings. Coming through in a part-time role is something Skole has trained himself for since Spring Training.

“Even last year, when I signed for my first year over here, just trying to come in when I can and spell some of these guys and help these guys out,” said Skole, who made his first start of the season on Monday in Detroit. “At this point in my career, I’m going to realistically be a bench guy and play three or four times a week.

“That’s just the game now. There are so many young talented players up in the big leagues now. Just be able to do that and that’s all I want to do. Be able to be a good bat off the bench and give a good at-bat and play some good defense and give some of these superstars a break when they need a day or two.”

He said it
“I don’t try to put too much of an emphasis on the numbers in and of themselves. You look at the totality of the at-bats; how good are they, how good are they striking the ball? They all want positive outcomes. We encourage them because it’s not easy to do.” -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria, on how to help his struggling players