Lucas Giolito
Lucas Giolito has been an elite pitcher for the White Sox since the year 2019.
Lucas Giolito has made it clear he wants to be on the White Sox for life. The two sides were discussing contract extensions last season but nothing came to fruition.
Giolito is set to hit free agency in two years so the White Sox need to hurry to take advantage of their window or extend him.
Lucas Giolito deserves high praise due to his history with the team. His track record speaks for itself. In 2019, he finished sixth in the Cy Young voting, won AL pitcher of the month in May, and made his first All-Star team.
His 228 strikeouts were the seventh-highest total in franchise history. His three complete games were the most by a White Sox pitcher since Chris Sale and his 3.41 ERA represented the third-best improvement from a season before in MLB history.
On August 25th, 2020 he tossed the 19th no-hitter in franchise history. It was one of the most dominant no-hitters to date. He struck out 13 Pittsburgh Pirates only walking one. For that season, he finished seventh in the Cy Young voting.
During the postseason, he twirled a gem against the Oakland A’s in Game 1 of the AL Wild Card Series. The 6’6 right-hander earned the victory after allowing one run on two hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. He retired the first 18 batters he faced before allowing a hit to Tommy La Stella in the seventh inning.
He posted another solid season in 2021. He had a 3.53 ERA, struck out 201 batters owned the lowest WHIP amongst qualified White Sox starters with a 1.10 mark, and led the team in innings pitched.
At the age of 26, Giolito is in line to be the ace moving forward once Lance Lynn leaves. The White Sox would be wise to pay him.