Chicago White Sox: A deep dive into Giolito’s no-hitter
By Cody Young
Lucas Giolito tossed the first no-hitter in 2020 and the 19th in Chicago White Sox history.
Lucas Giolito is the clear cut ace of the Chicago White Sox and if that wasn’t already clear, he made sure of it after tonight. Giolito threw the 19th no-hitter in the history of the White Sox and he did it in historic fashion.
First things first, he was one walk away from a perfect game which would’ve been the first since Philip Humber’s in 2012. The one walk came against Erik Gonzalez, who was walked on four pitches to start the fourth inning. This was also the second game in a row where he had 13 strikeouts and he seems to really be hitting his stride.
Lucas was really in control all night. He threw 101 pitches producing 30 total swing-and-misses which is the second-most ever in a no-hitter behind Nolan Ryan. James McCann played a big part in Giolito’s amazing turnaround after his awful 2018 season. James was the full-time catcher with Lucas last season and in my opinion, should be this year as well.
Yasmani Grandal is considered by just about everyone to be a better catcher than McCann but Mccann and Giolito have a chemistry that can’t be broken right now. Lucas seems to struggle more when Mccann isn’t catching him, including at the beginning of this season when Grandal started.
Tonight, Lucas had his fastball and changeup really working with the occasional slider thrown in there. Some people are going to look at this Pirates team and claim that Giolito beat up a bad team and that’s fine good teams are supposed to beat bad teams. Giolito absolutely shut down Pittsburgh and the Sox still played some good defense while providing more than enough offense.
light. Hot. Lucas Giolito and the 19th no-hitter in White Sox history
Lucas Giolito and the White Sox had themselves a very special night. In 2018 he was one of the worst pitchers in Major League Baseball before he did a complete 180 in 2019 and finished in the top six in Cy Young voting. Now, he has thrown a no-hitter on a White Sox team contending for a playoff spot. He is getting hot at the right time.