Everywhere you turned at Guaranteed Rate Field Wednesday, everyone was asking the same question.
What’s wrong with Lucas Giolito?
Giolito seems to be at a loss for an answer, too.
“I mean, I just got shelled,” Giolito said. “They hit the ball hard, hammered mistakes. That’s pretty much it.”
Asked about his frustration level after a couple of bad outings, Giolito corrected the questioner.
“It’s like five,” Giolito said. “It’s pretty brutal. Yeah, it [stinks]. Keep working, keep trying to make these adjustments.”
The White Sox’ Opening Day starter, former All-Star and sometimes ace has had one decent start in his last five. Giolito has been staked to leads and hasn’t held them, and in the Sox’ 9-5 loss, he found himself in a 7-0 hole after four innings, giving his team a slim chance of completing a series sweep.
The Sox’ rotation had seemingly come together with the return of Lance Lynn from the injured list and the charming, consistent six-inning efforts from 36-year-old veteran Johnny Cueto. But Giolito, who lasted five innings and gave up a career-high 11 hits to the Jays including the 14th and 15th homers hit against him this season, has seen his ERA climb from 2.63 to 5.45 over his last five starts. He allowed nine homers and has a 9.47 ERA in those starts.
Giolito has tinkered with mechanical adjustments during this stretch and said progress has been made but there is no sign of it in the results. Location and stuff have both been subpar.
“A combination,” Giolito said. “Leaving too many pitches middle. Just got to figure it out. That’s it.
“But when it comes to the game, the way we’re playing right now, the offense, the defense, I just have to give the team a chance to win and I’m failing to do that over and over,” Giolito said. “It’s very frustrating and so that’s why I’ve gotta just figure it out.”
The loss prevented the Sox from a sweep. They host the Orioles for four games starting Thursday having won six of their last nine.
It was a rough day all-around for the Sox, who lost shortstop Danny Medick with a knee injury and Adam Engel with a sore hamstring.
On the plus side, the Sox had 13 hits, including three by Andrew Vaughn who raised his average to .333. Vaughn is batting .455 in his last seven games.
“He’s got unbelievable stuff,” Vaughn said of Giolito said. “He’s going to come out next start, and we all believe in him.”
Giolito, who had a short bout with COVID-19 in May, says he feels fine. La Russa said the same thing.
“He’ll take the ball Monday [in Anaheim],” La Russa said.
“I know that when I’m right I am a good pitcher,” Giolito said. “A good starting pitcher who can go deep, strike guys out. So I know that. It’s just a matter of making it happen, making the adjustments that are necessary. Its been frustrating. I want to give the team a chance to win when I take the ball. I have not been doing that, and so that’s pretty much it. I’ve got to figure it out.”
