It's time for Giolito to produce for Chicago White Sox

Good or bad, Lucas Giolito is great at talking about his pitching performances.

The Chicago White Sox's 24-year-old starting pitcher is always able to identify what he's doing, right or wrong. He also knows actions are going to speak louder than words this season.

"I had a very, very productive off-season," Giolito said at the start of spring training. "Probably the most focused work I've had in an off-season, not just working hard but working smarter. I'm ready to implement those things to get me through this season and have a good one."

Last season Giolito led the Sox with 10 wins, and he had a decent strikeout rate (6.5 per 9 innings).

The right-hander also had the highest ERA (6.13) in the major leagues, and Giolito led the American League with 90 walks.

"He's got to throw a lot more strikes," said Don Cooper, White Sox pitching coach. "He self-destructed early too much. He walked way too many guys. He did have some real good ballgames. We're hoping for more consistency, more consistency with strikes overall."

Giolito's command issues were equal parts mental and physical.

Addressing the mental side, he completed a 20-session neurofeedback program before reporting to training camp.

"You work to build better neuro-pathways," Giolito said. "For me, it was about focusing on breathing, being confident at all times, just things like that where I kind of put it all together on the mental side. Always have that confidence, always feel good when I'm out on the mound, compete and kind of let everything else take over."

On the physical side, the 6-foot-6 Giolito shortened his arm swing to improve his command.

The Sox's likely No. 4 starter this season, Giolito is 0-1 with a 6.91 ERA in his first 4 Cactus League outings. He has 15 strikeouts in 14⅓ innings to go with 6 walks.

Spring-training stats don't carry much weight, but Giolito is going to have to produce when the regular season starts.

"He certainly is much more confident," White Sox general manager Rick Hahn said. "He has made some changes, his arm swing a little; he seems to be commanding the breaking ball a little more, his command is a lot sharper.

"He's walking around with a more air of confidence, not that he wasn't last year, but he's starting to feel it a little and hopefully that's a positive sign."