Tag Archives: Lucas Giolito

September 23, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Tigers and Guardians battle for the NL Central title Tuesday night as Tarik Skubal faces Gavin Williams. With the Guardians currently holding the tie breaker, they need to take two of three against Detroit to go into the driver’s seat in the division. Skubal shut down the Guardians in three starts this season, allowing one run in 22 innings with two walks and 32 strikeouts! Williams brings the heat with 161 K in 161 2/3 innings, but walks a batter every other inning.

The Red Sox visit the Blue Jays for a three game series, Boston five games out in the AL East and only one game up for the second wild card slot. They need a sweep to have a decent chance at the AL East title. Lucas Giolito takes on Kevin Gausman. Giolito held the Blue Jays at Bay this season, while Gausman faced Boston just once, with an eight inning performance early in the season.

I will note that in the NL, the Mets visit the Cubs while the Reds host the Pirates. The Cubs still need to win to secure the top wild card slot, while Pittsburgh played poorly as of late. That gives the Red a bit of an advantage in the race for the third wild card slot in the NL.

Enjoy!

September 12, 2025

Games of the Day

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Jacob deGrom returns to Citi Field as the Rangers and Mets play in an interleague wild card race game. deGrom pitched a full full-season for the first time since 2019, although he did make it through all of the 2020 pandemic schedule. He is not as dominant, but most pitchers only dream of his 2025 numbers. He faces rookie Jonah Tong, making his third start. He walked four and struck out 12 in 11 innings, but was hurt by three home runs.

The Yankees travel to Boston, the two teams separated by half a game for the top Wild Card slot in the AL. Whichever team wins that battle is likely to be the host of the other for the wild card round, and the Red Sox hold the time breaker. It’s the LuGi game as Luis Gil battles Lucas Giolito. Gil owns a 3.31 ERA in seven starts since returning from a long injury rehabilitation. He walked 23 batters in 35 1/3 innings, but with men on base opponents hit just .188/.280/.234. Giolito’s strikeout rate is down this season, but he made up for it with a .275 BABIP allowed.

Finally, the Dodgers visit the Giants with Yoshinobu Yamamoto taking on Justin Verlander. Yamamoto’s first two career starts against the Giants were poor, but his last one resulted in seven shutout innings. Verlander made three good starts in a row as he tries to keep his career alive.

August 21, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Brewers send Quinn Priester against the Cubs and Shota Imanaga as Chicago tries to take four out of five in the series and cut the Brewers lead to five games in the NL Central. Priester comes into the game 11-2 with a 3.48 ERA. In his first two seasons his ERA game in much higher than his FIP, hurt by bad defense or bad luck. This season, on a better team, his ERA is well below his FIP. Imanaga owns a 3.06 ERA, with limiting walks his strength. Note that the Brewers do walk a lot but don’t strike out much, and lead the NL in BABIP with a .305 mark. This should be an interesting matchup of pitcher and offense.

The Yankees won their fifth game in a row Wednesday night as they seem to be coming out of the doldrums. They host the Red Sox in a game that should be sponsored by LG as Lucas Giolito faces Luis Gil. New York leads Boston by 1 1/2 games in the race for the top slot in the AL Wild Card contest. Giolito comes into the game with a 3.63 ERA, his weakness the home run ball. He allows 1.27 HR per 9 IP this season, which is down a bit from his 1.45 career mark. Gil makes his fourth start of the season. He’s shown his usual wildness without his overwhelming strikeout rate as he comes back from a major injury. He allowed just one home run in his 14 innings.

Enjoy!

August 9, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Phillies and Rangers continue their series in Texas with Jesus Luzardo trying to resurrect his season against the excellent Jacob deGrom. Luzardo stands 10-5, but with a 4.32 ERA. His three true outcomes are all better than his career averages, but his ERA is slightly worse. Luzardo benefitted from pitching in high scoring games. The Phillies score 4.73 runs per game, but in Luzardo’s starts that goes up to 5.96 runs per game. deGrom owns a slightly better record at 10-4, thanks to a 2.80 ERA. He also is helped by his offense, scoring 5.32 runs per game when he starts compared to 4.09 runs per game overall.

The Red Sox and Padres offer another fine contest with Lucas Giolito taking on Michael King. Giolito walked just 27 batters in 95 2/3 innings. He’s been hot lately, with a 2.03 ERA in his last 10 starts. He is susceptible to the home run, so it will help pitching in San Diego. King holds batters to a paltry .262 OBP and an miniscule .327 slugging percentage.

Enjoy!

August 3, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Astros and Red Sox get an early start in Boston as Framber Valdez takes on Lucas Giolito. Valdez looks long-term hot, as he pitched just one poor start in his last 14 appearances. He stands 10-0 with a 1.84 ERA in that span. The Red Sox now occupy the top wild card slot. Giolito turned his season around since June 10th, with a 2.17 ERA in that time.

Luis Gil returns to the Yankees rotation to try to prevent a Marlins sweep. Edward Cabrera stands in opposition. Gil struck out 24 in14 1/3 rehab innings in the minors. Cabrera, at seasonal age 27, is posting the best numbers of his career. He holds opponents to a .310 OBP and a .377 slugging percentage.

Jacob deGrom tries to get the Rangers into a tie with the Mariners as he takes on Seattle’s Logan Evans. Texas waited for the payoff from deGrom, but with him healthy owns a 10-3 record and a 2.55 ERA in 21 starts. He no longer blows away batters like he once did, but he still induces weak contact, with .238 BABIP against him. Evans owns a 4.22 ERA in his rookie year. He’s been hurt by allowing eleven home runs in 64 innings.

Enjoy!

July 18, 2025

Games of the Day

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The Red Sox and Cubs open the final stretch of the season with an afternoon game at Wrigley Field. Lucas Giolito faces Colin Rea. Giolito regained his effectiveness after two down seasons, posting a 3.36 ERA in thirteen starts. He holds batters to 2.61 BB per 9 IP. Rea is on pace for this second straight season of at least 10 wins with a 7-3 record. He also limits walks, 2.25 per nine IP. Neither overwhelms batters with K, so it might be a good game if you like the ball in play.

The improving Reds visit the Mets with Nick Lodolo taking on Sean Manaea. Lodolo’s 3.36 ERA would be the best single season mark of his career. He reduced his strikeouts and walks this season, but with a good defense behind him Lodolo allowed a .275 BABIP. Manea makes his first start and second appearance of the season after allowing just one run in 3 1/3 innings in his first outing.

Enjoy!

March 5, 2024

Giolito Torn

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Lucas Giolito, signed by the Red Sox to anchor the rotation, may miss all of 2024:

Giolito, who was expected to be the Red Sox’s Opening Day starter, has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and flexor strain that could require surgery that would likely keep him out for the entirety of 2024, according to sources.

Giolito, 29, was one of just three free agent signings by the Red Sox over the winter, alongside reliever Liam Hendriks — who is expected to miss most, if not all, of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery — and right-hander Cooper Criswell. While Red Sox chairman Tom Werner had suggested at the outset of the winter that the team would take a “full throttle” approach to free agency, Giolito’s two-year, $38.5 million contract represented more than three-quarters of their $49.5 million outlay, which ranks 13th in Major League Baseball.

ESPN.com

The Red Sox need a pretty good plan B now that their ace will likely miss significant time. This injury puts more pressure on the offense to be outstanding.

December 29, 2023

Landing Giolito

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Reports indicate that the Red Sox signed free agent pitcher Lucas Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million contract:

Giolito, 29, has pitched in the MLB for eight seasons. He is coming off a year in which he played for three teams: the Chicago White Sox, Los Angeles Angels, and Cleveland Guardians. 

The starter accumulated a 4.88 earned run average in 33 starts and 184 ? innings with those clubs in 2023. Giolito allowed a league-high 41 home runs this past season (2.0 per nine innings), but logged 204 strikeouts (10.0 per nine).

Boston.com

Giolito posted a 4.90 ERA in 2022 and a 4.88 mark last year. In 2022, balls in play against him found holes, leading to a .340 BABIP, well above his career average of .290. In 2023, his BABIP dropped to .274, but with his home runs increasing from 24 to 41, his ERA remained high. If he can keep the 2023 BABIP with his 2022 home run numbers, he’ll be okay. Note also that his walks were up the last two seasons as well.

He only pitched in Boston twice in his career and was lit up both times.

The contract seems to indicate the Red Sox expect to receive 3.5 to 4.0 WAR in the two years (there is an opt out). So Boston must believe he’ll return to his 2019-2021 form. If he does, it will be a very good signing.

September 4, 2023

Games of the Day

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The Giants at the Cubs makes me wish that Massive Tie Scenarios could still cause playoff chaos rather than invoke tie breakers. The Cubs stand second in the NL Wild Card race, three games ahead of four teams vying for the second or third slot. One of those teams is the Giants, who send Logan Webb against Justin Steele. It appears Webb will hit 200 innings for the first time. He threw 180 1/3 innings so far, and reached 192 1/3 innings last season. Steele lowered his ERA nearly half a run from last year after lowering over a run from his rookie season.

The Rangers lead the Astros by .001 points in winning percentage in a race for both a wild card slot and an AL West title. J.P. France takes on Andrew Heaney. France owns a 3.49 ERA in his rookie season, walking just 34 batters in 116 innings. Heaney gives up a high number of home runs, 22, but those have been more prevalent on the road.

The Twins visit the Guardians, with Cleveland getting an early September shot at closing the gap in the AL Central. Pablo Lopez battles Lucas Giolito. Lopez’s 2023 is very much like his 2022, with a 3.72 ERA this year compared to a 3.75 ERA last year. His strikeouts are up, but his other numbers are right in line with 2022. Giolito starts for his third team this season. In his short stint with the Angels he went 1-5 in six starts with a 6.89 ERA. He allowed ten home runs in 32 2/3 innings.

Enjoy!

August 31, 2023

Guardian Angels

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The Guardians claimed three of the players the Angels placed on waviers:

After placing six players on waivers Tuesday, the Angels lost right-handed starter Lucas Giolito, left-handed reliever Matt Moore and right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez to the Guardians. Two other former Angels players — outfielder Hunter Renfroe (Cincinnati Reds) and reliever Dominic Leone (Seattle Mariners) — were also claimed.

Every team was eligible to claim players, who would be awarded in reverse order of record. Cleveland surprised the industry by claiming the three best pitchers available despite carrying a 64-70 record and sitting five games behind first-place Minnesota in the American League Central. 

“Whether or not we can close the gap that’s in front of us, we don’t know,” Guardians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said Thursday. “But we want to try.

ESPN.com

Cleveland should know Giolito well, as he faced them many times with Chicago. In six starts in Cleveand, Giolito went 3-1 with a 1.67 ERA. Moore owned a 2.66 ERA this season with a high K rate and a low walk rate. Lopez blows away batters, but also walks quite a few. This does make Cleveland a better team, but it remains to be seen if they can convert that into a division win.

July 28, 2023

Games of the Day

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Lucas Giolito makes his Angels debut in Toronto against Kevin Gausman. Giolito pitched poorly on the road this season, with opponents posting a .276/.362/.522 slash line against him compared to .188/.240/.335 in Chicago. Gausman stretched his 2020 improvement into a fourth season. He is now 36-24 with a 3.15 ERA since the start of 2020 averaging just two walks per nine innings.

The Rangers travel to San Diego as Dane Dunning takes on Joe Musgrove. Dunning’s strikeouts are way down this season, but he’s tougher to hit. He emphasized his cutter this year, and it appears to be inducing weak contact. Musgrove continues to be a model of consistency with San Diego, as his 2023 numbers are right in line with 2021 and 2022.

Enjoy!

July 27, 2023

Angels Go All In

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The Angels traded prospects to the White Sox for pitching:

The Los Angeles Angels acquired right-hander Lucas Giolito and right-handed reliever Reynaldo Lopez from the Chicago White Sox for two top prospects late Wednesday, bolstering their roster on the same day they decided they would not trade star Shohei Ohtani before he hits free agency this winter.

The move for Giolito, arguably the best pitcher on the trade market, and Lopez, whose fastball regularly hits 100 mph, was the first significant trade in Major League Baseball before Tuesday’s deadline. Multiple contenders had considered dealing for Giolito and Lopez, but the Angels swooped in with catcher Edgar Quero and left-hander Ky Bush, both at Double-A, to reinforce themselves for a playoff run.

ESPN.com

Giolito’s 2023 numbers are very similar to Ohtani as a pitcher, so that should be a decent 1-2 punch provided the Angels offense performs. Lopez blows batters away, but like Giolito, tends to give up home runs.

The prospect to watch is Quero. At seasonal age 20, he owns a .414 OBP in the minors, and a .386 mark at AA this season. He’s a catcher who can hit. Bush pitches at seasonal age 23, and took a step backwards this season after a great season at AA in 2022. He upped his K rate this year, but became more wild in the process.

We’ll see if the Angels continue to trade prospects to win this season. It’s possible that they are setting up a scenario where they not only don’t win this season, but they lose Ohtani to free agency and don’t have prospect to help rebuild the team.

July 23, 2023

Games of the Day

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The Braves and Milwaukee play the rubber game of their series with Bryce Elder taking on former Braves ace Julio Teheran. Elder doubled his innings from last season. He decrease his walk rate, but is giving up more home runs. That means a slightly higher ERA, 3.31 compared to 3.17 last year. Teheran plugged an injury hole for the Brewers rotation. He’s showing excellent control with just eleven walks in 51 2/3 innings, but he did allow eight home runs.

The White Sox take on the Twins with Lucas Giolito battling Bailey Ober. Giolito had his problems with the Twins over his career. This will be his 23rd start against Minnesota, and he stands 8-9 with a 3.88 ERA. The Twins drew a decent amount of walks against him and dinged him for the long ball. Ober is just 2-3 at home, where he allowed seven of his nine home runs.

Enjoy!

June 28, 2023

Games of the Day

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The Padres and Pirates square off this evening with Blake Snell facing Mitch Keller. Despite a losing record, Snell pitches well by using 104 K in 81 innings to allow just 60 hits. Keller pitched much better at home this season, with a 2.78 ERA in Pittsburgh against versus 4.02 away. He does a much better job of limiting hits at home, even though he does a better job of striking out batters away.

Wade Miley and the Brewers take on Kodai Senga and the Mets in New York. Miley averages just a bit above five innings a start, but they are effective innings. He gives his defense a work out as he owns both a low K rate and a low walk rate. Milwaukee fielders are up to the task as they limited hits allowed by Miley to 43 in 52 2/3 innings. The old rookie Senga, veteran of Nippon Professional Baseball, owns a 3.52 despite being wild. He walked 44 batters in 76 2/3 innings. The opposition is hitting just .206 against him, making it difficult to move those runners along.

Finally, Lucas Giolito battles Jaime Barria as the White Sox visit the Angels. After a poor 2022 season, Giolito returned to his 2019-2021 level of ERA. Allowing home runs remains his weak point. Barria servers as a swing man for the Angels, with a 2.79 ERA in four starts and a 1.67 ERA as a reliever. He tends to go two innings when called upon to relieve.

Enjoy!

June 11, 2023

Beat the Streak Picks

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For the past few years Baseball Musings tried to help with playing Beat the Streak. The Day by Day Database keeps track of hit streak of at least five games. In addition, two programs produce top ten lists of players with a high probability of a hit.

Here are the top picks my programs produced for use in Beat the Streak. This post mostly explains the ideas behind the calculations. In addition, this post shows tests on the Neural Network (NN). This post discusses an NN that includes the ballpark. I updated the models, and the results of those tests are here.

The Log5 Method yields these top picks:

In their careers, Arraez and Giolito faced each other 32 times. While Arraez put the ball in play (3 K and 3 BB), he doesn’t have that much success, going 7 for 29 against Giolito.

Here are the NN picks:

  • 0.330, 0.774 — Luis Arraez batting against Lucas Giolito.
  • 0.306, 0.732 — Bo Bichette batting against Louie Varland.
  • 0.328, 0.728 — Lourdes Gurriel batting against Joey Wentz.
  • 0.300, 0.714 — Tim Anderson batting against Braxton Garrett.
  • 0.281, 0.713 — Freddie Freeman batting against Taijuan Walker.
  • 0.304, 0.713 — Harold Ramirez batting against Martin Perez.
  • 0.272, 0.707 — Joey Meneses batting against Bryce Elder.
  • 0.295, 0.706 — Ronald Acuna batting against Trevor Williams.
  • 0.314, 0.703 — Emmanuel Rivera batting against Joey Wentz.
  • 0.297, 0.700 — Wander Franco batting against Martin Perez.

Both systems like the hot Arraez a lot. His hit average for the season is a monstrous .363 against a league average of .220. Gurriel is the consensus double down choice.

You can follow the NN results on this spreadsheet. I do not guarantee results. Your best pick is going to have about a 25% chance of not getting a hit. Good luck!

May 14, 2023

Games of the Day

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The Braves send Collin McHugh against the Blue Jays and Yusei Kikuchi. McHugh makes his first start of the season. He was a regular in the Houston rotation from 2014-2017, but only made 15 starts since. He allowed 16 hits this season in 13 1/3 innings, but none of them were home runs. Kikuchi stands 5-0 in seven starts, and owns a 3.35 ERA despite allowing eight home runs in 37 2/3 innings. Six of the eight came with the bases empty, and he allows a .087 (2/23) BA with runners in scoring position.

Hunter Brown faces Lucas Giolito as the Astros battle the White Sox. Brown owns a 3.23 ERA in seven starts, but pitched just 39 innings. He is the opposite of Kikuchi. It’s difficult to get on against Brown, but once on opponents hit .316/.409/.421. Giolito had a rough outing early, but since 4/12 he owns a 2-2 record with a 2.33 ERA. He allowed just 25 hits in 38 2/3 innings in that stretch.

The Dodgers go for a sweep of the visiting Padres as San Diego sends Ryan Weathers against Tony Gonsolin. Weathers uses his defense as he walked five and struck out 11 in 18 innings pitched. It works, as he owns a 2.50 so far. Gonsolin dominated the Padres in his career, 4-0 in six appearances with a 1.45 ERA. He allowed just 18 hits and four walks in 31 innings.

Enjoy!

April 18, 2023

Giolito No No

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Lucas Giolito of the White Sox pitched six hitless innings and comes out of the game against the Phillies. Giolito walked one and struck out seven as Chicago leads 3-0 in game two of their doubleheader. Kendall Graveman is on in relief.

Update: Graveman retires the side in order in the top of the seventh, striking out one.

Update: Aaron Bummer is on to pitch the top of the eighth inning for the White Sox.

Update: Bummer. Brandon Marsh leads off the inning with a double.

May 31, 2022

Games of the Day

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The Angels visit the Yankees with Noah Syndergaard facing Jordan Montgomery. Syndergaard is not blowing away batters as in the past, but his control is great with just eight walks in 38 innings. Montgomery is even better with his eight walks coming in 46 1/3 innings. Montgomery does give up the long-ball, but allows a .156 BA with runners in scoring position.

The injured and unvaccinated White Sox travel to Toronto down some players as Lucas Giolito takes on Kevin Gausman. Giolito struck out 51 batters in 37 2/3 innings, allowing just thirty three hits. Gausman allowed just one home run in 56 innings and owns the fifth lowest HR/9 IP since the start of the 2021 season.

Enjoy!

May 18, 2022

Games of the Day

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Wednesday features a great early game with the Braves and Brewers sending Max Fried and Corbin Burnes to the mound. Fried showed fantastic control this season, walking just four batters in 43 innings. Burnes comes into the game with a 1.77 ERA, although he only has a 1-2 record to show for it. He limited batters to 28 hits in 45 2/3 innings, but six of those hits left the yard.

The Diamondbacks and Dodgers play an afternoon game in Los Angeles, with Zach Davies facing Walker Buehler. Despite playing home games at a high altitude, Davies three home runs allowed this season all game on the road. Buehler stands 5-0 with a 1.96 ERA career against the Diamondbacks, with just four home runs allowed in 73 1/3 innings.

Finally, the latest game of the day features Lucas Giolito of the White Sox against Zack Greinke of the Royals. Giolito comes in with a 2.70 ERA. He is not going deep in games yet, with just 26 2/3 innings in five starts. Greinke has yet to record a win for the Royals this season, 0-2 with a 3.52 ERA. He walked just three batters in 38 1/3 innings, but allowed 42 hits as he no longer Ks batters at a high rate. His K per 9 IP of 3.29 is the lowest in the majors for any pitcher with at least 35 IP.

Enjoy!

April 29, 2022

Games of the Day

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The Angels visit the White Sox with Noah Syndergaard facing Lucas Giolito. Syndergaard so far is limiting hits better than ever despite a drop in his strikeout rate. It’s all small sample size at this point, but this does seem to be a different Syndergaard. His velocity is down across the board, but good pitchers can be successful at low velo. Giolito is blowing away batters so far, with 15 K in eight innings pitched.

The Phillies visit the Mets with Aaron Nola taking on Tylor Megill. While the pitching match-up is good, this could be a hit by pitch spark point. The Phillies have already hit Mets batters five time this season (as have the Nationals and Cardinals) and the Phillies are tied with the Nationals for most batter hit, 15.

Finally, a battle of great veterans takes place in St. Louis where Madison Bumgarner leads the Diamondbacks against Adam Wainwright. Bumgarner showed control issues early with ten walks in 18 innings, but only 12 hits allowed. His defense hurt him more as three of the five runs he allowed were unearned. Wainwright allowed a high batting average of .313 this season despite a good strike out rate. He does seem to be stranding runners, however, as his ERA stands at 3.86.

Enjoy!

April 8, 2022

Games of the Day

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The second set of opening day games takes place on Friday, starting with the rained out Boston Red Sox visiting the New York Yankees. Nathan Eovaldi faces Gerrit Cole. Eovaldi pitched a strange 2021 season. His three-true outcomes were outstanding, but his ERA was not. There’s not a clear reason for that, but he did allow 16 RBI in 25 situations with a man on third and less than two out. Cole simply blew batters away in 2021, with 243 K in 181 1/3 innings. He is 23-11 since joining the Yankees at the start of 2020 season.

A few minutes later, the White Sox face the Tigers in Detroit with Lucas Giolito battling Eduardo Rodriguez. Giolito kicked up his strikeout game in 2019, and in the last three seasons ranks fourth in the majors in K per 9 IP behind Cole, Max Scherzer, and Robbie Ray. The top four are all in action on Friday. Rodriguez is a reverse lefty, where left-handed batters have better success against him than righties. The White Sox bat two switch hitters, so he may give them trouble.

The Mariners and Twins, also postponed from Thursday, finally get started in Minnesota. Ray takes the hill for Seattle against rookie Joe Ryan. The big debut for the Mariners will be Julio Rodriguez, seasonal age 21. He slashed .331/.412/.543 in three minor league seasons. The Mariners hope he will at least be their second best player who’s nickname sounds like A-Rod. Ryan is a more mature rookie, seasonal age 26. He posted three true outcomes in the minors of 0.8 HR/9, 2.1 BB/9, and 13.0 K per nine.

The Dodgers make the climb to Colorado to face the Rockies, with Walker Buehler taking on Kyle Freeland. Buehler simply does everything well for a great team, leading to a career 40-13 record in 103 games and 94 starts. Freeland is coming off his second straight season with a 4.33 ERA and a 1.42 WHIP.

Finally, the revamped Rangers visit the powerhouse Blue Jays as opening day returns to Canada for the first time since 2019. Jon Gray faces Jose Berrios. Gray makes his first start away from the Rockies, where he 22-31 with a 4.65 ERA on the road, but 31-18 with a 4.54 ERA at home. We’ll see how he does pitching most of his games at lower altitudes. Berrios’s weakness is home runs allowed, but it’s not a fatal weakness. The Blue Jays should be able to generate more power than Berrios allows.

Enjoy!

October 8, 2021

Playoffs Today

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Friday goes to eleven as four eleven game winners get starts today. The White Sox and Astros kick off day two of the League Division Series at 2 PM EDT with Lucas Giolito facing Framber Valdez. Giolito posted an 11-9 record this season. He pitched consistently during the last three seasons with a 29-21 record in 72 starts and a 3.47 ERA. His strength is his ability to strike out batters, averaging 11.1 K per 9 IP. Valdez went 11-6 on the season in 22 starts. His strikeout rate is relatively low for the era, and his walk rate is a bit high. He manages to avoid allowing hits, however, as batters earned just 110 safeties in 134 2/3 innings.

The 4:30 PM EDT game kicks off the NLDS with the Braves visiting the Brewers. Charlie Morton takes on Corbin Burnes. This is Morton’s fourth post-season team. He pitched well in that time, 7-3 with a game finished and a 3.38 ERA in 12 starts and one relief appearance. He allowed just five home runs in 61 1/3 innings. Burnes pitched nine innings in relief in the 2018 NLDS. It was pretty much what you should expect, eleven K, one walk, and no home runs. He allowed just seven home runs in 167 innings this season, the lowest home run rate by far in the majors this season. He is the third eleven game winner in the group.

Boston tries to even the series with Tampa Bay as Chris Sale takes on rookie Shane Baz, the second day in a row a rookie Shane takes the mound for the Rays. I won’t be the first time Shane battled a Chris:

Sale made nine starts after returning from an injury that sidelined him for two years. His strikeout and walk rates were good, but he did allow six home runs in 42 2/3 innings. Baz pitched 13 1/3 MLB innings so far, posting a 2.03 ERA. He struck out 18 and walked three, all three runs against him coming on solo home runs. The game starts at 7 PM EDT.

Finally, at 9:30 PM EDT, the Dodgers take on the Giants in San Francisco to start the final NLDS. Walker Buehler faces Logan Webb. Buehler did everything well this season; high strikeouts, low walks, low home runs allowed, and low hits allowed. That earned him a 16-4 record and a 2.47 ERA. He’ll likely win the Cy Young award. Webb went 11-3 with a 3.03 ERA and makes his post-season debut. He owned a 2.25 ERA against the Dodgers in three starts, allowing just one home run in 16 innings.

Enjoy!

August 15, 2021

Game of the Day

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The Yankees and White Sox play the rubber game of their split-town series with Nestor Cortes facing Lucas Giolito. Cortes owns a 3.04 ERA as a starter this season, 2.29 as a reliever. He struck out batters at a much higher rate in relief, but show much better control as a starter. Giolito keeps hits and walks low, but his ERA rose this season due to the twenty three home runs he allowed. Seventeen of those came with the bases empty.

Enjoy!

August 9, 2021

Twin Feats in Minnesota

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The White Sox are in the process of building feats on both sides of the ball as they play the Twins in Minnesota. Eloy Jimenez hit two home runs for the second game in a row. He now has eleven hits on the season, nine of them for extra bases. Meanwhile, Lucas Giolito is perfect through four innings as he goes for another no-hitter. The White Sox lead the Twins 8-0 in the middle of the fifth inning.

Update: Luis Arraez hits a comebacker that hits Giolito in the foot, and the ball bounces away for the Twins first hit of the game.

July 23, 2021

Games of the Day

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The Padres take on the Marlins with Joe Musgrove facing Zach Thompson. Musgrove allowed just 76 hits in 103 1/3 innings thanks in part to 119 K. The rookie Thompson is off to a great start to his career with a 1.93 ERA in his first six appearances. With only 28 innings in six starts, however, he’s not allowed to get into trouble.

The White Sox and Brewers play a possible World Series preview with Lucas Giolito battling Freddy Peralta. Giolitio seems to have adjusted to the lack to tack in his last two starts, including a complete game against the Astros. Peralta allowed just 44 hits in 98 innings, but he also walked 44.

Enjoy!

June 30, 2021

Just Joshing

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Josh Donaldson of the Twins started a feud with another pitcher Tuesday night, this time Lucas Giolito of the White Sox.

Giolito lobbed an expletive-laced response in Donaldson’s direction after the slugger appeared to yell, “Not sticky anymore,” after a first-inning home run in the Chicago White Sox’s 7-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night.

ESPN.com

It’s a great demonstration of the ultra competitive nature of elite athletes. Donaldson does not hit Giolito well. He is now two for 11 with a home run and two walks, but only one strikeout. It’s can’t be that Giolito is a good pitcher who knows how to get Donaldson out, because that would not fit Donaldson’s image of himself. It has to be cheating.

Of course, Giolito can’t just respond, “Whatever,” and go on letting Donaldson look like a child, he has to fire back and be classless himself.

June 16, 2021

Games of the Day

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The Rays and White Sox play the rubber match of their series with Ryan Yarbrough facing Lucas Giolito. Yarbrough stand 3-1 on the road this season with a 3.54 ERA, despite allowing nine of his eleven home runs away from Tampa Bay. Giolito’s ERA at home stands at 3.20 versus 4.70 on the road, but his record is just 2-4 in Chicago. He also owns a huge reverse platoon split this season as lefties hit just .174 against him, righties .243.

The Phillies send Zack Wheeler against the Dodgers and Clayton Kershaw in the late game. Wheeler walked just 18 batters in 90 1/3 innings to go with his 63 hits allowed. Kershaw allowed 14 walks and 66 hits in 82 1/3 innings, giving both starters WHIPs under 1.0.

Enjoy!

April 24, 2021

Elite Pitching

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Jacob deGrom of the Mets pitched a two-hit shutout against the Nationals Friday night, a 6-0 victory for the ace. With no walks and fifteen strikeouts, deGrom posted a game score of 98, the highest this season. He beats out Joe Musgrove‘s no-hitter by one point.

That gives the major leagues two games where the pitcher posted a game score of at least 95. There was only one such game in 2020, Lucas Giolito‘s no-hitter. There was also only one such game in 2019, Justin Verlander‘s no-hitter. There were two in 2018 and two in 2017.

Up until 2017, these game score were more common in the majors. From 2012 to 2016 there were 36 game scores of at least 95, or about seven a season. The 2021 season is starting out to match those levels.

April 19, 2021

Giolito Rocked

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After the White Sox take a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning, the first six Red Sox hitters reach in the bottom of the first and Boston now leads 4-1. They have two men in scoring position with one out as the line keeps moving. Lucas Giolito came into the game with nine hits allowed in 17 2/3 innings. He already allowed five hits in this game.

Update: The sixth hit of the inning and an outfield bobble brings in two more runs and the Red Sox lead 6-1.

Update: That’s it. A rather fast moving inning was slowed down by a 14 pitch walk to Bobby Dalbec. An sacrifice and error was changed to a hit, so all the runs were earned.

April 19, 2021

Games of the Day

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The White Sox and Red Sox kick off at 11 AM EDT in the traditional Patriots’ Day game, celebrating the battles of Lexington and Concord and the start of the American Revolution. It’s the rare time when the holiday falls on the actual anniversary of the battles. The game looks like a good pitching match-up, as Lucas Giolito takes on Nathan Eovaldi.

Giolito found himself in 2019 when he greatly reduced his walk rate without giving up strikeouts. That continues this season as he K’d 26 and walked just five batters in 17 2/3 innings. Eovaldi was hammered by homers the previous two season, but has yet to allow a long ball in 2021.

Josh Fleming makes his second start of the season as the Rays visit the Royals and Danny Duffy. Fleming, with 37 1/3 MLB innings under his belt, strikes me as the prototype of what MLB wants a pitcher to be. He neither walks nor strikes out a lot of batters, but he also doesn’t give up many hits. He’s an action pitcher, if you will. Duffy owns a 0.75 ERA to start the season, thanks in part to most of the hits against being singles, and opponents going 1 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Finally, the Brewers visit the Padres with Brandon Woodruff facing Joe Musgrove. Woodruff is one of four NL ERA qualifiers not to allow a home run in 2021. Musgrove’s 0.47 ERA is second only to Jacob deGrom in the NL. The Brewers handled him well in the past, however, scoring 20 runs, all earned, in 29 1/3 innings.

Enjoy!