Lucas Giolito

[caulfield12]

Gavin Floyd would be a pretty good example, but he didn't go from arguably the top pitching prospect in baseball to "maybe a 4th/5th" starter or Luke Hochevar because of 21+ IP in the majors and a measly 93 (as opposed to 97-98) mph fastball in spring training. (Meaning he had MUCH MUCH longer to prove himself with the Phillies than Giolito had in WASH in the heat of a pennant race.)

 

Sure, it would be great if he was throwing at 97-98 mph, but we should have learned by now that movement and location are equally important, if not moreso. We've all watched pitchers that were throwing in the mid 90's get lit up like a Christmas tree, whether it was location, pitching behind in the count, etc.

 

Giolito will be fine as long as he can get his offspeed stuff across the plate consistently and not get into hitter's counts more often than not. It all comes down to that. For those who remember Jose Contreras at his peak in 2005-2006, he was basically a two pitch pitcher with that forkball and fastball. Of course, his FB velocity was 94-97 and touching 98 that year.

 

It also goes back to that 10+ mph differential on the fastball and offspeed stuff. Giolito shouldn't have to worry as much about that, with a dominant curveball instead of a slider (like Rodon), which tends to inch up closer and closer to his FB velocity at certain times during the season.

Edited March 28, 2017 by caulfield12

[nitetrain8601]

In any rebuild, you're going to acquire assets that just bust for whatever reason. It's just the nature of the beast. It's why prospects are called prospects and not "Future Superstar". I think many people have to realize that the Cubs rebuild went way better than expected. They pretty much hit on everyone which I can't really recall ever happening. With that said, we are 4 months into a rebuild and it's asinine to me that fans can be calling for the heads of the FO.

[caulfield12]

In any rebuild, you're going to acquire assets that just bust for whatever reason. It's just the nature of the beast. It's why prospects are called prospects and not "Future Superstar". I think many people have to realize that the Cubs rebuild went way better than expected. They pretty much hit on everyone which I can't really recall ever happening. With that said, we are 4 months into a rebuild and it's asinine to me that fans can be calling for the heads of the FO.

 

You can argue Soler underachieved or just plain couldn't stay healthy...and Baez two years ago was a huge disappointment but became quite useful in 2016 more for his defensive wizardry than projected 30+ homer numbers.

 

Other than that, it's hard to express disappointment with any of the higher profile guys. And even then, a (healthy) Wade Davis isn't exactly chopped liver.

[Quin]

In any rebuild, you're going to acquire assets that just bust for whatever reason. It's just the nature of the beast. It's why prospects are called prospects and not "Future Superstar". I think many people have to realize that the Cubs rebuild went way better than expected. They pretty much hit on everyone which I can't really recall ever happening. With that said, we are 4 months into a rebuild and it's asinine to me that fans can be calling for the heads of the FO.

 

It really is a testament to Theo. The Cubs rebuild started with Castro, Samardzija and Rizzo.

 

The Sox are lucky in that they get to start their rebuild with Q, Rodon, Anderson, Moncada, Giolito, Kopech, Lopez, and Fulmer.

[steveno89]

It really is a testament to Theo. The Cubs rebuild started with Castro, Samardzija and Rizzo.

 

The Sox are lucky in that they get to start their rebuild with Q, Rodon, Anderson, Moncada, Giolito, Kopech, Lopez, and Fulmer.

 

Don't forget about Hansen, Collins, Burdi and Basabe. Each of them is expected to contribute at some point to our rebuild.