Giolito to make White Sox debut on Tuesday
Fellow pitching prospect Kopech also gets promotion to Triple-A
ARLINGTON -- Lucas Giolito, the White Sox No. 6 prospect, per MLBPipeline.com, becomes the latest Major League entry from the White Sox rebuild, as the right-hander will be promoted from Triple-A Charlotte to start Tuesday's game against the Twins at Guaranteed Rate Field.
Giolito originally was scheduled to start one of Monday's games against the Twins in a straight doubleheader. But with Reynaldo Lopezplaced on the 10-day disabled list Saturday, Carson Fulmer will serve as the 26th man for the DH, and Giolito will take Lopez's spot in the rotation in the interim.
"He's throwing a lot more strikes, using his secondary pitches very effectively," said White Sox manager Rick Renteria of Giolito. "I'm sure he's continuing to grow and get more comfortable in his own skin.
"Basically confidence. Repeating his delivery. His last outings he's shown that, the numbers have shown that and even times when the numbers haven't shown it, there are other things that have factored into that. But he continues to throw the ball very well."
Giolito, who was acquired from Washington with fellow right-handers Lopez and Dane Dunning in the Adam Eaton deal, has a 3-1 record with a 1.71 ERA over his last five starts. In his last eight starts, Giolito has fanned 47 and walked 20 over 45 1/3 innings pitched.
"He just got comfortable with what he's doing," said White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper. "His mechanics, he's tall and closed. We are seeing that the result is more and more strikes, to go along with the stuff he's got.
"I did happen to see him on TV the other night. He looked calm, collected and was dropping all of his stuff in there for strikes, which is the first prerequisite to come here. You gotta be able to throw it over."
While Giolito is set to join Yoan Moncada, Nicky Delmonico, Aaron Bummer and Lopez in making the prospect jump to the White Sox, right-hander Michael Kopech has earned a promotion from Double-A Birmingham to Charlotte. Kopech stands as the game's top pitching prospect (No. 12 overall), per MLBPipeline, and has fanned 155 over 119 1/3 innings with the Barons while holding opponents to a .184 average.
Kopech, who was added as part of the Chris Sale deal with Boston that also brought over Moncada, is 4-1 with a 0.66 ERA over his last six starts. He has 54 strikeouts in 41 innings during that stretch. Kopech figures to begin the '18 season in Charlotte, but much like Lopez and Giolito, the 21-year-old could eventually get a Major League look as well.