White Sox Need More Quality Starts from Lucas Giolito This Season

White Sox starting pitcher has another solid outing on Tuesday night and this team will need a lot more quality starts from the former top prospect this year.

This past weekend was not only embarrassing for the White Sox, but it was also a reminder of the team’s current weakness with their starting rotation. After a weekend that saw the White Sox allow 24 runs over two days, the team got another quality start on Tuesday night in Cleveland.

The quality start came from Lucas Giolito. Giolito started his second game since returning from the injured list and it was the best start of the season for him against the Indians. This is something the White Sox will need more out of from Giolito this season.

Last season, Giolito was the worst starting pitcher in MLB. He looked nothing like a former top prospect for most of the year in 2018. This was especially disappointing for White Sox fans who remembered his solid stint of seven starts to end the 2017 season. Entering this season, success would be very important for Giolito.

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Since going down with an injury, Giolito has shown glimpses of how good he can be. On Tuesday night, he kept a struggling Indians offense scoreless through 7.1 innings pitched. Giolito tied his season-high of eight strikeouts. The 24-year-old has allowed just three earned runs in his last 15 innings pitched.

This comes after he had a stretch of back-to-back outings where he allowed four or more earned runs. Giolito’s performance on Tuesday was nothing short of spectacular. Despite allowing three walks, he managed to get himself out of early jams without any damage.

The Sox starting rotation hasn’t been consistent throughout this season and if Giolito can manage to become a force, it will bode well for the pitching staff. Without Carlos Rodon and another veteran starter, the Sox rotation currently isn’t a strength for this team. Giolito could likely change that if he can continue performing well.

For Giolito, 2019 could be the year he’s been looking forward to having since he debuted in MLB in 2016. He’s shown in the past that he’s capable of being a quality starting pitcher but hasn’t performed up to that level over a full season. The Sox badly need Giolito to step up and become a solid starting pitcher this season as they don’t have many quality pitchers in their rotation.

Ivan Nova had a good start as well against the Indians this past Monday as he looks to turn his season around. It will be Reynaldo Lopez‘s turn to have a good start on Wednesday night. Hopefully, he can follow in the footsteps of Giolito as Sox fans would like to see this rotation get better soon.