Chicago White Sox: The truth about Giolito’s Friday KC start
Lucas Giolito has had an up and down start to his season so far. The Chicago White Sox are an elite team so it hasn’t been much of an issue but we all know Giolito is going to figure it out. Besides Michael Kopech, Lucas Giolito is the most talented pitcher they have. Some people were getting on him after his start on Friday but that isn’t the right thing to do. In fact, it is the completely wrong thing to do. Yes, he gave up five runs but that doesn’t tell the story at all.
The Chicago White Sox needs Lucas Giolito to have more ups than downs going forward.
Giolito was coming right along in this game but the injury to Jose Abreu seems to have shaken him up. He made a few comments after the game about what it meant to see someone as tough as Abreu laying there on the ground. It isn’t much of a coincidence that the first pitch after getting Abreu off the field was parked in the right-field bleachers.
Another fact was that both teams were dealing with the wind as a defensive factor. Anything that would be a deep fly out on a normal day was a home run for the Royals. They hit two big ones that fit those criteria and it turned out to be the difference in the game. That is what we call bad luck.
Each home run had an expected batting average of .190 and .160 respectively. When pop-ups turn to home runs, that is just bad luck. It also doesn’t help that the wind was taken out of the team’s sails right before the first one was given up. Giolito is going to be okay.
The good news is that Giolito isn’t the only elite starter on the team right now. Lance Lynn, Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Rodon, Dylan Cease, and Michael Kopech are all amazing. Giolito just needs to get in a rhythm and simply have better luck. There are some people that won’t buy into this but the statistics are the statistics on those home runs that cost Giolito (and the White Sox) the ballgame.
Related Story. Jose Abreu is okay after a very scary collision. light
Giolito is talented enough to break out of this little funk that he is in. He has the potential to be a Cy Young level pitcher. It is a long season and he just needs to keep at it. His changeup is one of the best in the league so mixed in with his fastball is as good as it gets when he has his command.