Grading Lucas Giolito's 2023 Chicago White Sox season

The Chicago White Sox are a bad team and they had bat pitching for most of the 2023 season. They have a lot of work to do if they are going to get this thing right. There are going to need to be some big changes made to the whole operation in order to fix this.

One player that did pitch well for them is Lucas Giolito. During his time with them this season, he went 6-6 (which is outstanding on the 61-101 White Sox) with a 3.79 ERA. He had 131 strikeouts in 121.0 innings pitched. It was clear that he was having a bounceback season from what he was in 2022.

Giolito's good play earned him some high-level status on the trade market. By the time the deadline came around, he was one of the top names on the market. In an effort to go for it in the last year of Shohei Ohtani's contract, the Los Angeles Angels made the move for Giolito.

He ended up pitching so poorly for them that they put him on waivers and made it obvious that they messed up the entire Shohei Ohtani situation. The Cleveland Guardians picked up Giolito and he was terrible for them as well. A great bounce back season turned into a disaster for him.

Lucas Giolito had a strange season split between three teams.

It is unfair to judge Giolito's season based on how he played in Los Angeles and then after being put on waivers. His time when he was settled in with a team was successful. His grade, like everyone before him, will only reflect his time spent in a Chicago White Sox uniform.

2023 Player Grade: B

Lucas Giolito's 2023 White Sox season deserves a B. He was incredible for them as they tried to get on track every season. Once he was traded away, they lost someone giving them quality starts every five days. He didn't pitch well after leaving them but that isn't going into the grade.

2024 Outlook:

Lucas Giolito is a free agent which is part of the reason he was traded at the deadline. He will now look for a new team and will have to explain why it was he struggled away from the White Sox. Whichever team signs him will surely need to make sure he is settled and comfortable before spring training starts.