One of the breakout pitchers in the American League last season was young White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito, who was named an All-Star for the first time. Here are two props available to wager at Mybookie on Giolito’s and the White Sox’s 2020 MLB season – assuming there is one – and an overview.
Lucas Giolito MLB Awards Odds & Analysis For 2020 Season
- AL Cy Young Award: Giolito is +1000
- Odds to win AL Central: White Sox are +275 second-favorites
was a candidate for AL Comeback Player of the Year last year, which no White Sox pitcher had ever won. Alas, Indians pitcher Carlos Carrasco took it home in the AL.
finished 2019 with a 14-6 record, a 1.06 WHIP and 228/57 K/BB ratio over 176 2/3 innings covering 29 starts. In his final start vs. the Royals, he struck out 12 – including a franchise-record eight straight at one point. He really liked facing Kansas City, posting 2.22 ERA in four starts against the Royals.
The All-Star ranked among the AL leaders in virtually every category, including AVG (3rd, .204), WHIP (4th, 1.07), and ERA (6th, 3.41). Quite an improvement from 2018 when he finished last among all MLB qualifying pitchers in 2018 with a 6.13 ERA. His improvement in ERA was the second-best in MLB history behind the Cubs’ Dick Ellsworth (+2.98 from 1962-63).
average of 11.39 strikeouts per 9.0 IP was the second-best mark in Sox history among qualifying pitchers behind Chris Sale (11.82) in 2015, and 4.90 better than his total of 6.49 in 2018. His three complete games were the most by a Sox RHP since Jake Peavy (four) in 2012. Giolito posted complete-game shutouts on 5/23 at Houston and 8/21 at Minnesota, combining for seven hits allowed with one walk and 21 strikeouts. He was the only pitcher in baseball to shut out either team in 2019.
For some reason, he really thrived in day games, going 7-2 with a 1.63 ERA. That 1.63 ERA was the fifth-lowest in MLB in 2019, and the lowest day ERA by a White Sox pitcher since Gary Peters (1.58) in 1967.
In mid-September, Giolito was shut down for the final few weeks after being diagnosed with a mild right lat strain. He felt the injury during a bullpen session. This spring, Giolito was a bit behind after dealing with soreness in his ribcage and a strained chest muscle but did end up making a couple of outings and was going to be ready for the original Opening Day.
is a four-pitch pitcher: four-seam fastball, curveball, changeup and slider. What changed in 2019, and likely fostered his breakout, is a change in his pitch repertoire and how often he threw those pitches. Giolito threw his four-seamer 39.5 percent of the time in 2018, followed by his sinker (19.9 percent), changeup (15.3 percent), slider (15.1 percent) and curveball (10.1 percent). In 2019 Giolito threw his four-seam fastball 54.9 percent of the time, with an uptick in velocity of nearly two MPH (94.6, from 92.8 in 2018).
was a bit busy of late as he was the White Sox’s representative in the inaugural MLB The Show Players League. Giolito came into the MLB The Show Players League with low expectations, considering that he had not played the video game a lot prior to the league.
On Sunday, he lost to Rays hurler Blake Snell 3-0 in the five-game championship series. Snell beat Giolito 5-1, 3-2 and 6-0 to take home the crown. Snell earned the top seed during the regular season, thanks to a relentless offensive attack that saw him score a league-leading 145 runs. That attack carried into the postseason.
Great cause, though, as all 30 players participating in the league-wide tournament were each awarded $5,000 donations to a local Boys & Girls Club in their team’s home city.
