White Sox MiLB Report: Lucas Giolito Posts 2nd Consecutive Quality Start

MESA, AZ - FEBRUARY 27: Lucas Giolito
MESA, AZ - FEBRUARY 27: Lucas Giolito

White Sox seventh ranked prospect posts second consecutive quality start for Charlotte. Newly acquired outfielder has breakout game for Kannapolis.

Lucas Giolito must have gotten the memo that the Chicago White Sox need starting pitching help. The Sox seventh ranked prospect posted his second consecutive quality start for Triple-A Charlotte in the team’s 3-2 loss to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders on Sunday.

Giolio pitched seven innings while allowing just three earned runs and recording two strikeouts. This was the first time this season that Giolito posted a second consecutive quality start. Giolito had been largely inconsistent this season, but he appears to have turned the corner. With his start on Sunday, Giolito lowered his ERA to 4.95.

More from White Sox Prospects

After a disastrous start on July 20 against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, Giolito’s ERA swelled to 5.38. He needed a quality start in his next two outings to get his ERA under five. In order to continue improving before the end of the season, Giolito is going to need to continue having effectively long starts on the mound. His teammate Reynaldo Lopez is knocking on the door for a promotion, and Giolito could be close behind if he’s able to maintain consistency.

Another Sox pitching prospect, Alec Hansen also had a nice start in a losing fashion on Sunday. Hansen, the Sox ninth ranked prospect pitched a complete game in six innings in a 3-0 loss for Single-A Advanced Winston-Salem. The 2016 second round pick recorded 12 strikeouts and gave up just one earned run on three hits.

Hansen has been solid since joining the Dash after being promoted from Single-A Kannapolis on June 22. Despite not pitching more than 5.2 innings until his start on July 25, Hansen hasn’t given up more than three earned runs in six of his seven outings with the Dash. After his start on Sunday, Hansen’s record with Winston-Salem is 1-4 with a 2.78 ERA and 46 strikeouts through seven starts.

Next: White Sox Trade Melky Cabrera to Kansas City Royals

While Sox pitching prospects had good outings on Sunday, newly acquired minor league outfielder Blake Rutherford had a breakout game with Kannapolis on offense. The Sox fifth ranked prospect who was acquired in a trade with the New York Yankees on July 19, had a three hit performance on Sunday for the Intimidators. Rutherford went 3-for-5 with a double and RBI single. This was Rutherford’s second multi-hit game with Kannapolis, and his first game with three hits since July 5 when he was with the Charleston RiverDogs.

Click link below for box scores:

Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders 3-Charlotte Knights 2

Birmingham Barons 4-Pensacola BlueWahoos 2

Winston-Salem Dash 4-Lynchburg Hillcats 2 (Game 1 of Doubleheader)

Lynchburg Hillcats 3-Winston-Salem Dash 0  F/7 (Game 2 of Doubleheader)

Kannapolis Intimidators 10-Lexington Legends 3

Billings Mustangs 6-Great Falls Voyagers 5

AZL White Sox 5-AZL Dodgers 2

Schedule