Giolito back on map as top Chicago White Sox prospect
On May 8, Lucas Giolito took the mound against Class AAA Indianapolis and had a troubling start.
Not only did the Chicago White Sox's pitching prospect give up 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits and 4 walks in 5 innings, his lack of composure was frequently mentioned by the Indy broadcast team.
Giolito - acquired from the Washington Nationals in the Adam Eaton trade - took the loss that night, dropping his record to 0-5 and raising his ERA to 7.31.
The composure was still lacking in the big right-hander's postgame meeting with the media.
"I wasn't expecting to start the year like this," Giolito said. "I mean, the numbers are atrocious. It frustrated me, definitely, a lot earlier in the year, like, why am I not figuring it out? Now all I can do is trust the work I'm putting in and hopefully put it together soon."
As the White Sox slowly rebuild and look to the future, minor-league arms like Reynaldo Lopez, Michael Kopech, Carson Fulmer, Alec Hansen, Dane Dunning and Spencer Adams were the names most frequently mentioned as potential major-league starters.
A month later, Giolito has put it together and shot back to near the top of the Sox's watch list.
Starting against Durham on Monday night, the 6-foot-6, 250-pounder pitched 6 innings and allowed 1 run on 5 hits and 2 walks. Giolito also had 11 strikeouts.
Over his last 5 starts, the 22-year-old Californian is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA and has 26 strikeouts and 9 walks in 28 innings.
On May 25, Giolito started Game 1 of a doubleheader against Syracuse and pitched a 7-inning no-hitter.
"It was kind of that click I was looking for, with everything," Giolito said. "Just the confidence, feeling confidence on the mound, commanding my pitches much better. Just getting through the lineup a few times and feeling good about it."
Armed with a nasty curveball and rapidly improving slider, Giolito finally is commanding his fastball and showing why he was rated as the No. 5 overall prospect in the game by Baseball America heading into the 2016 season.
"I did a lot better job of keeping the fastball down in the zone to both sides of the plate," Giolito said after the no-hitter. "I was able to get the ball inside to lefties pretty well, maybe got a few jam shots and some popouts here and there and then I had my two-seamer working as well. It was just a pretty solid day as far as throwing the fastball."
Charlotte pitching coach Steve McCatty said it was just a matter of time before Giolito turned the corner.
"When Lucas was drafted (No. 16 overall by Washington in 2012), he had the elbow surgery and was throwing 100 mph, and everybody says, 'Well, here's another Stephen Strasburg,'" said McCatty, who coached Strasburg for the Nationals from 2010-15. "It just doesn't work that way, but they both have the same sort of personalities.
"They have pressures that have been put on them by outside sources in the game, the media, and it's awfully hard to live up to.
"I've told (Giolito) the same thing I've told Stephen: 'Don't think about what everybody else thinks you should be, be as good as you can be, and then you'll have nothing to feel bad about.' If you're worried about living up to the standards that everybody else wants, it's not going to happen."