White Sox MiLB Report: Lucas Giolito Pitches Six Scoreless Innings
White Sox pitching prospects dominate on Wednesday, while newly promoted youngsters homer in their first game in Double-A.
While the Chicago White Sox have been tough to watch this season for many fans, the team’s top prospects have shined throughout 2017 in the minors. On Wednesday, two pitching prospects had stellar outings in their respective starts.
Lucas Giolito, the Sox seventh ranked prospect pitched six scoreless innings for Triple-A Charlotte in the Knights 8-3 victory over the Toledo Mudhens. This was Giolito’s second consecutive quality start and his fourth in his last five outings. Giolito recorded seven strikeouts and allowed just one walk against Toledo.
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With his strong outing, Giolito improved his record to 6-10 and lowered his ERA to 4.48. After a slow start to the season, Giolito has shown vast improvement in his last 10 starts. Over that span, Gioltio has gone 4-4 with a 3.86 ERA to go along with 59 strikeouts and 22 walks. The 23-year-old pitcher is making a strong case to join the Sox starting rotation very soon.
Alec Hansen, the Sox ninth ranked prospect also had a strong start on Wednesday. Hansen, the Sox 2016 second round draft pick pitched seven innings and recorded 11 strikeouts while allowing just one earned run for Single-A Advanced Winston-Salem. This was the third consecutive start that Hansen recorded 11 or more strikeouts.
As Giolito and Hansen had impressive starts on the mound on Wednesday, two other Sox prospects had solid debuts for Double-A Birmingham. Sox second ranked prospect Eloy Jimenez and 10th ranked prospect Zack Collins both homered in their debut game for the Barons. Jimenez homered in his first at bat against the Montgomery Biscuits in a 9-4 Birmingham victory. The 20-year-old outfielder went 2-for-4 with a double for the Barons.
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Collins, the Sox 2016 first round draft pick went 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk for Birmingham. With the addition of Collins and Jimenez, the Barons have much-needed power in its lineup for the remainder of the season. Both Jimenez and Collins could be important players in the Sox rebuilding efforts.
Click links below for box scores:
Charlotte Knights 8-Toledo Mudhens 3
Birmingham Barons 9-Montgomery Biscuits 4
Winston-Salem Dash 4-Myrtle Beach Pelicans 1
Kannapolis Intimidators 5-Lakewood BlueClaws 1
Great Falls Voyagers 11-Ogden Raptors 6