White Sox pitcher reveals surprising way he prepares for starts
Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito had his best start of the young season last week against the Philadelphia Phillies, going six shutout innings while allowing no hits, one walk and seven strikeouts to earn his first win of the year. It turns out that the 2019 All-Star may have the video game MLB The Show 23 to thank for his success.
During a recent interview with Jomboy Media's Chris Rose, Giolito revealed that he frequently plays as himself in the game and chooses to face the upcoming lineup he's slated to square off against on the real MLB diamond.
However, the former Washington Nationals first-round pick said that due to his "down year" in 2022, his player rating has been lowered, making it more difficult to have success on The Show.
Since his lone All-Star campaign four years ago and the subsequent pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Giolito has posted back-to-back 11-9 seasons, though his ERA and WHIP both shot up significantly from 2021 to 2022. Aside from his disastrous first year in the big leagues in 2018 when he allowed a league-worst 118 earned runs and 90 walks, 2022 was easily Giolito's worst season, as he had a 4.90 ERA and 1.43 WHIP.
With last year's AL Cy Young runner-up Dylan Cease now firmly atop the team's rotation, Giolito isn't expected to be an ace anymore and is in the middle of the starting five. Since he was pounded for 12 hits and seven runs (all earned) in his second start of the year against the Pittsburgh Pirates, the righty has been strong in his last three outings.
Through five starts covering 28 innings, Giolito is 1-2 with a 4.50 ERA and 1.17 WHIP with a solid 28 to six strikeout-to-walk ratio.
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