SAN DIEGO — Dylan Cease is locked in on the playoff race.
But the San Diego Padres starter has noticed the tough times his former team is going through.
The right-hander spent his first five big-league seasons with the Chicago White Sox before they traded him to the Padres in March.
While the Padres are leading the way in the National League wild-card race, the Sox are nearing the record for most losses in modern-day major-league history.
“You definitely feel for the guys in that sort of situation,” Cease said before Friday’s series opener at Petco Park. “At the end of the day, baseball is fun, but losing is not fun. It’s been a rough year for them, a long year for them. Hopefully they kind of get it turned around at some point.”
The Padres won 3-2 in 10 innings Friday, handing the Sox their 118th loss. That is the third-most in a season during the modern era. The Sox are two shy of matching the modern-day record of 120 losses, held by the 1962 New York Mets.
It’s a loss total that’s tough to ignore.
“It’s more of, like, you see everyone reporting on them, you see the headlines every day and it kind of turns into a spectacle a little bit, I guess,” Cease said. “I wasn’t like fixated on it. It’s just kind of one of those things that’s hard not to notice.”
Cease, 28, was with the Sox for a portion of camp this spring before being traded.
“I thought the vibes were good,” Cease said. “The spirits felt pretty high. There was a little bit of an acceptance of last year wasn’t the best (the team finished 61-101), there wasn’t necessarily a crazy amount done in free agency, although there were definitely some acquisitions and upgrades made.
“I don’t think anyone expected it to be kind of as bad as it was this year.”
Cease went 43-35 with a 3.83 ERA and 792 strikeouts in 123 starts for the Sox from 2019-23. He recorded at least 200 strikeouts in each of his final three seasons with the team.
“I love the city, for one, and being given the opportunity to be a Major League Baseball player, especially at a young age, and to be able to go through struggles and have a little bit of a taste of success, meet a lot of cool people, have cool relationships and all that was special,” Cease said. “It was tough leaving it. I really do love Chicago a lot.”
Cease is 14-11 with a 3.42 ERA and 220 strikeouts in 32 starts this season with the Padres. The year has included the first no-hitter of his career on July 25 against the Washington Nationals. He allowed two hits in 8 1/3 scoreless innings Wednesday in a 4-0 victory against the Houston Astros.
“It’s been great overall,” Cease said. “The No. 1 thing is just as a team, we are playing really well and it’s been a lot of fun. We are all locked in and we want to win and we bring that energy every day.
“Personally there have been some ups and downs with consistency, but I feel like I like where I’m at right now. It’s been a great year.”
Cease is thrilled to be fighting for a postseason berth.
“This second half has been really remarkable,” he said. “Some of the winning streaks we’ve been on, and just the effort and consistency and just the winning we are doing right now, it’s been so much fun.”
Cease has remained in touch with several of his former Sox teammates, including Friday’s starter, Garrett Crochet.
“He’s kind of turned into everything everyone thought he was going to be,” Cease said. “He’s been fun to follow. He was throwing 101 at 20. You knew he had something there.”
While Cease won’t be pitching against his former team, he was looking forward to catching up with the group again.
“Definitely going to be interacting with them a lot this week,” Cease said.
