One week after agreeing to a one-year, $7.45 million contract and avoiding arbitration, Chicago White Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito was in the midst of a dominant Opening Day outing against the Detroit Tigers in early April. Following four scoreless innings of work though, concerns and worries began flooding the team surrounding Giolito's health after he departed with an abdominal injury.
The 2019 All-Star was placed on the 10-day injured list afterward, but now, it appears that it may wind up being a minimal stay for the ace.
Lucas Giolito says he expects to start against Twins Sunday.
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 20, 2022
Giolito: "I feel good, feel healthy. Feel very strong. It [abdominal strain] was weird, it sucked, but we're going to push forward and get back to doing what I like doing a lot."
— Daryl Van Schouwen (@CST_soxvan) April 20, 2022
Despite being without Giolito, fellow top-of-the-rotation hurler Lance Lynn and outfielder AJ Pollock, the White Sox are still off to a 6-3 start and lead the AL Central in the very early portion of the season.
Giolito went 11-9 with a 3.53 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 201 strikeouts across 178 2/3 innings pitched in 2021. His best season was in 2019, when he went 14-9 with career-best numbers in ERA (3.41), WHIP (1.06) and strikeouts (228), while finishing sixth in the AL Cy Young voting and earning his first All-Star berth.
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