The White Sox need Lucas Giolito Wednesday night, maybe now more than ever.
Looking to prevent what would be a wretched 1-5 start in a 60-game season, the White Sox right-hander will oppose Indians righty Zach Plesac (5:10 p.m. CST, NBCSCH, 720-AM) a day after the Sox got swept by the Indians (4-10) in a Tuesday doubleheader.
Named the Sox’ Opening Day starter after going 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA in 2019, Giolito laid an egg against the Twins on Opening Night, serving up a home run to Max Kepler on the first pitch of the season, allowing another homer to Kepler in the second inning and leaving in the fourth inning having allowed seven runs on six hits and three walks in a 10-5 loss.
Fastball command was the culprit, Giolito said.
“We definitely addressed those issues,” Giolito said Wednesday. “I was able to get to the video room with Coop [pitching coach Don Cooper] and Has [assistant pitching coach Curt Hasler] and look at a few bad habits I guess you could say I developed. I wouldn’t say a few, maybe just one, that kind of led to some of the issues with fastball command that I was seeing. We’ve done a very good job of addressing that.
“To sum it up, I was basically not driving down the mound the way I should be. We were able to make those adjustments over the last few days.”
Giolito faced the Indians twice last season, blanking them both times. He pitched 7 1⁄3 scoreless innings in a 2-0 win at Cleveland on May 7 and pitched seven scoreless innings in another 2-0 win June 2 at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Giolito was 11-2 with a 2.72 ERA after beating the Twins 4-3 on June 30 of last season, earning him a spot in the All-Star Game in what was a stunning turnaround after he posted a 6.13 ERA in 2018. But since that start, Giolito’s ERA is 4.80.
Only Dallas Keuchel gave the Sox a good start the first time through the rotation. Reynaldo Lopez, Dylan Cease and Carlos Rodon, like Giolito failed to finish four innings.
“We need — it’s no secret — we need our starters,” manager Rick Renteria said. “So we need a nice start [Wednesday] from Lucas. We’re trying to stay optimistic and we believe that he’s capable of doing it. Obviously you guys have seen him do it. He’s one of the guys that’s helped us come out of spins before.”
Giolito said his first start of 2020 had nothing to do with Opening Day jitters.
“I wouldn’t say too much of that,” he said. “Definitely going too fast. So maybe I felt a little subconscious, going a little too quick, trying to make things happen instead of letting things happen.
“I wouldn’t say I was particularly nervous or anxious before the game. It’s just first game back in a long time. Unfortunately it didn’t go my way, but I got a few more to work with here, so I’m just going to keep working.”
Plesac is making his first start of the season and looks to continue an impressive run of outings by Indians starters. All five have pitched at least six innings and allowed two or fewer runs, the first rotation to do that since the 2013 Mets.
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