GLENDALE, Ariz. -- Manager Rick Renteria could have broken news Wednesday by announcing Lucas Giolito as his 2020 Opening Day starter following the team’s Spring Training workout at Camelback Ranch.
With a wry smile in place, Renteria wouldn’t quite go to that official point and added a decision has not yet been made. Anyone else but Giolito facing the Royals on March 26 at Guaranteed Rate Field would be more of a shock than a surprise, and Giolito certainly is embracing the idea of starting the opener.
“That would be huge for me, kind of kicking off a year I feel like we are turning a page as an organization,” Giolito said. “I absolutely want to be the guy with the ball to start off a new era of White Sox baseball, if you will, considering the pieces we have and how much these guys around me have grown. It would mean the world to me to have that opportunity and I’m looking forward to it.”
Giolito, 25, earned this honor by putting up a Cy Young-caliber performance in 2019. The right-hander finished with a 14-9 record and a 3.41 ERA over 29 starts and 176 2/3 innings, allowing 131 hits and 57 walks against 228 strikeouts. This breakout performance followed an offseason in which Giolito revamped his mechanics, his mound approach and his work between starts coming off a rough 2018.
A strained chest muscle near his right ribcage has left Giolito throwing off flat ground through the first week of Spring Training. But he expects to be pitching off the mound this weekend.
“At first, I was kind of concerned. I was like, ‘Dang, this is kind of close to my lat, and I hurt my lat last year.’ Once we took a look at it, it was completely unrelated,” Giolito said. “I haven’t felt any discomfort, honestly, since I shut down the throwing with the flu [in late January]. Now we are staying on a program building back up so I’m not doing too much too fast.”
Hahn sees Rodón as long-term starter
Carlos Rodón, who is on the recovery path from Tommy John surgery undergone last May, was passionate in his comments to MLB.com about wanting to remain a starting pitcher when he returns this season. General manager Rick Hahn has the same long-term vision for the left-hander, who was the team’s top pick in the 2014 Draft, but is taking somewhat of a wait-and-see approach in 2019.
“Certainly, a year from right now, I expect to be talking about him as one of the five guys in the rotation,” said Hahn of Rodón. “Over the course of this season, let him finish his rehab, let us see where we are at as a starting rotation.
“Let us see where he is from a stamina and endurance standpoint and how we project him the rest of the year. And we will figure out how to best bring him back to the big leagues.
“Long term, Carlos Rodón is a starter,” Hahn said. “Let’s get him through his rehab and then we’ll talk about his role through the balance of the 2020 season. I also know Carlos has said repeatedly whatever we want him to do to help the team win, he is there for.”
Sideline study
When Renteria watches the bullpen sessions and live batting-practice sessions leading up to Saturday’s Cactus League opener, the White Sox manager won't be looking for results, per se, from his hurlers.
“It’s just them competing against themselves,” Renteria said. “It has more to do with how consistently they are hitting their spots. Are the secondary pitches doing what you want them to do? In many instances, they might be doing what you want them to do, but they might not being going to the spot you want them to go.
“I have to balance where that’s at. I know they are cleaning up certain things. In terms of pitch type, how often they are hitting the glove, the life on fastballs, things of that nature, how well does the changeup come out of a guy’s hands? Those are the things I look at. If I can see guys who are hitting their spots, if the competitive aspect of it, if the emotional aspect of it, is in line with what they are doing, then I say there’s a good chance something good is going to happen.”
They said it
“I think the White Sox have done an outstanding job and they have a chance to be good for a long time. They’ve done a nice job of blending everything together at the right time.” -- Royals general manager Dayton Moore, speaking at Tuesday’s Cactus League media day