Sox's Giolito, Vaughn, Abreu have early spring in their steps
Having already established himself as one of the top starting pitchers in baseball, Lucas Giolito is expanding his repertoire this spring.
As Andrew Vaughn walked to the plate with two on and one out in the first inning Tuesday, Giolito showed off his skills as a prognosticator.
"I called that homer," Giolito said. "I'm not afraid to tell you guys I did call that homer. Before he even stepped in the box I said, 'Vaughnie's going deep' and then he did."
The early favorite to claim the White Sox's vacant designated hitter's job despite never having played a professional game above high Class A, Vaughn made Giolito look like a sage with a 3-run homer off Rangers' starter Kohei Arihara.
Officially, the Sox and Texas played to a 5-5 tie at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz. The final score was deceiving because play was halted in the bottom of the first inning and the bottom of the second - when the White Sox had the bases loaded - after Arihara's reached his pitch counts.
Making his first Cactus League start, Giolito had no such trouble.
The Sox's likely Opening Day starter gave up a solo home run to Ronald Guzman with two outs in the second inning and that was it.
Giolito struck out four of the seven Texas hitters he faced before calling it a day.
"Today, the focus was just getting acclimated again with game speed," Giolito said. "The adrenaline was definitely up there a little bit. Being able to control my breathing, control the pace of the game, those were my main focuses. I feel like I did pretty well.
"Threw a good amount of sliders today. The way my changeup was working, maybe during the season I'd probably throw more changeups. But we're here in spring training to work on things, so I definitely wanted to get some sliders in."
With a lethal high fastball and changeup that drops out of the strike zone, Giolito is one of three White Sox starters that finished in the Top 10 in American League Cy Young voting last season.
Giolito was seventh after going 4-3 with a 3.48 ERA and throwing a no-hitter against the Pirates. The 26-year-old righty flirted with another no-hitter in Game 1 of the playoffs against the Athletics.
New starter Lance Lynn finished fifth in Cy Young voting after going 6-3 with a 3.32 ERA with the Rangers.
Dallas Keuchel was sixth after going 6-2 with a 1.99 ERA in his first season with the Sox.
On the pitching side, Dylan Cease has been the talk of training camp in the early going, and he's expected to fill the No. 4 spot in the rotation. Carlos Rodon and Reynaldo Lopez are competing for the No. 5 job.
Fronting a bullpen that should be one of baseball's best, the White Sox's starting five is also formidable.
"This rotation can be one of, if not the best, in baseball," Giolito said. "Lance brings a bulldog mentality. The guy takes the ball and goes deep. His track record has been fantastic the last few years and he's another veteran presence, too."
Jose Abreu didn't report to camp until Saturday after testing positive for COVID-19 in January.
Last season's MVP was in the lineup against Texas Tuesday and he went 2-for-3 with 1 RBI.
"I felt a little weird, like a little out of place, but it was a good experience," Abreu said through a translator. "I felt good overall. I battled in my at-bats and what mattered the most for me is I was able to get the first game of the spring. I felt good."