JUSTgottaBELIEVE

Recent quotes from Giolito from a Sporting News article: "I put a lot of pressure on myself to live up to those expectations," he told SN. "And then when I didn't do it, instead of taking a step back, I just kept pressing more and more." "Last year, I was having a bunch of blow-up games. Having games where I'd lose control emotionally, mentally," Giolito said. "Now I'll be in a similar situation, and it's like, 'I've been here before, I've already done all that. That doesn't help.' Let me choose to go this other direction, where I got back to my breath, reset, focus on the next pitch." Regarding his new arm action: "It makes the misses smaller," he said. "I miss more to the side of the plate that I'm going to instead of missing over the middle. It's cleaned up a lot of things." From McCann: "That's a different guy than last year," McCann said. "This year, mentally, he's able to focus on each pitch for what it is and not allow that rough start to affect his whole outing." The physical and mental aspects of the game are intertwined. You could see the lack of command and control last year was affecting him mentally. Now that he’s been able to harness that side of his game, he’s pitching with much more confidence and pressing less as a result.

I disagree. All of Giolito’s problems stemmed from his lack of control, just like Glasnow. 2016 and prior is relevant because it shows the natural talent was always there. Unless he was injured in 2017/2018, where did the natural talent go? Did it just disappear at the tender age of 23?

Huh? giolito’s minor league numbers were fantastic thru 2016. Even when he struggled a bit in AAA in 2017, he was still striking out more than 9 guys per 9 IP (walks were his biggest issue there). You don’t get to where he got in 2017 without great stuff. Clearly, that was missing last year and was probably a combination of both mechanical and mental issues but the underlying stuff didn’t just suddenly vanish at age 23/24. His control issues were so bad last year that he was likely aiming the ball rather than releasing it freely and confidently. That can easily knock a few mph off one’s velocity.

The talent was there with Gio too. You don’t get selected in the first round of the draft and hit top 3 MLB prospect status without talent. Yes, he had been trending down in recent years but so was Tyler Glasnow. Some guys just take a while to click, especially if they are working through mechanical issues. Like Glasnow, the stuff was there but the control wasn’t. Fix the control and now you see the stuff front and center. No one looks good when they are walking nearly 5 per 9 IP and constantly pitching behind in the count.

Yep. Their farm system was loaded several years back and they are now bearing the fruits of that system. Berrios is a legit ace, Buxton is on pace for a 5 WAR season, Kepler is on pace for a 4 WAR season, and Rosario is a borderline all star (just missed last year). Those 4 are just now entering their prime years at ages 27 and under.

Jack, I commend you. I have also been a Gio supporter but not nearly to the degree you have put yourself out there with him. Between TA, Moncada, and Gio, I think the fan base is starting to realize that development is not linear and not everyone needs to shine upon first arrival in order to achieve their potential and become core members of the next contending team. A good lesson for all that patience is needed with young prospects that are still developing at the big league level.

I’m glad you’re not GM

But @OneDog847 told me their rebuild is a bust. How could they possibly have the best record in baseball and 83% chance of winning the division on May 24?

I’ll just you all with this on a feel good Friday. God damn, that was a fun season as a die hard White Sox fan.

#10 in fWAR for all MLB pitchers. Seems the latest tweaks worked... https://blogs.fangraphs.com/lucas-giolito-attacks-his-weaknesses/

Crazy because the thought of the Sox beating out a dozen other contenders for both guys is hard to fathom. But yea I’d certainly do it and we know the cash is available to get it done. A bullpen with Colome and Kimbrel on the back end is mouth watering.

It sounds crazy but allocate Manny’s $30M for this season to sign Kimbrel and Keuchel in two weeks and who knows what happens. Just need to get out of Minnesota this weekend with one win at least. Then the Sox have a real chance of winning 8 or 9 of their next 14 following the Twins series when you look at their schedule. That would put them right around .500 in mid-June with possible reinforcements of Cease, Robert, Kimbrel, and Keuchel on the way. That would make things awfully interesting for the remaining 96 games.

By the time they sign the season will be ~40% complete. $15M with only 60% of the season remaining is equivalent to $25M over a full season.

Great question. I have the same question about Kimbrel. Sign them both and let’s see what happens the rest of this season. What’s the worst that can happen? You burn $30M and finish the season below .500 but spark a heck of a lot more fan interest in the rest of this season along the way.

A rotation of Giolito, Keuchel, Cease, Lopez, and Nova would be interesting though.

Or add Keuchel and Cease to the rotation and things could still get interesting.

82 strikes, 25 balls. Incredible. Not only was he throwing strikes but he was hitting spots and often at the fringes of the plate rather than center cut. He struggled big time with command last year but if he’s dialed in his command for good he’s a legit TOR starter.

Oh yea, Lucas is definitely no joke. The Sox just outscored the Astros in a 4 game series on the road. How many predicted that?

The battery of Giolito and McCann has been unbelievable this year. Doubt Giolito would have emerged like this with Castillo or Narvaez catching him. That alone makes McCann an invaluable pickup and the reason the Sox desperately needed a plus defender at catcher.

Corbin Martin is no joke but neither is Lucas Giolito so at the very least the Sox stand a puncher’s chance tonight.

Completely agree. Colome has a great track record as a closer and is performing exceptionally well again this year. I’m assuming Kimbrel signs next month and, if so, Colome is the top relief option on the trade market in July (if the Sox make him available which I’m not completely certain they will).

Getting rid of Nova right now makes no sense. While he hasn’t been good, he’s at least eating innings at ~5.5 innings per start. That’s better than what they’d get out of Covey, Banuelos, or any other AAA startimg pitcher not named Cease.

Great win. Would be amazing if Gio brings it today and the Sox can salvage a series split against a team that was 18-4 at home coming into the series.

Look at their numbers this year (#13 in ERA, #20 in fWAR). And I said, the bullpen looks decent next year only if they hold on to Colome and Herrerra into next season. Obviously, if they trade either one that’s problematic but that applies to most teams if they unload their 8th/9th inning guys.

Cole should admit after the game how much harder it is to beat a tanking team than a team that actually tries to win.