CHICAGO (670 The Score) -- A year ago, White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito was struggling to find a way to just survive in the team's rotation.
Now, Giolito has elevated his game and made himself the pride of the South Side.
Giolito threw six strong innings of one-run ball to lead the White Sox to a 10-2 victory against the Yankees at Guaranteed Rate Field on Friday evening. The performance earned him his MLB-leading 10th win and lowered his ERA to 2.22, the sixth-best mark in MLB and third-best in the American League.
Friday showcased the transformation of Giolito as a pitcher. He called it a "grinder game," explaining he didn't have his rhythm much of evening as he scattered four hits and four walks. In a 2018 in which he posted an MLB-worst 6.13 ERA, Giolito would've been undone by such adversity. As he has so often this season, Giolito made the necessary adjustments to limit damage early and produced in a manner that gave his team a great chance to win.
"I shelved my two-seam fastball this year," Giolito said earlier this week. "The sinker contact was hurting me a lot last season. I was getting ambushed. My four-seamer was hit for about the same average but with less damage. I have more life on the four-seamers this year, and it's getting hit a lot less (.213 batting average against compared to .273 in 2018)."
With his continued success, Giolito is pushing Astros ace Justin Verlander for the honor of starting for the American League in the All-Star Game in Cleveland on July 9. Verlander is 9-2 with a 2.41 ERA and 0.73 WHIP.
For the White Sox, patience has been a virtue with Giolito. They resisted demoting Giolito to a bullpen role or the minor leagues in his awful 2018 season, and that faith has paid off.
"We want our young players to come here and have a chance to succeed without going back to the minor leagues," Hahn said. "We want the predictability of them getting here and building off of growth and success. We have had a lot of nice things happen with our young players' progress. The way Lucas is performing right now is outstanding. Part of that development was taking some lumps last year, learning from it and growing. That happens at this level and the minor league level."
It's been quite the sight to see for White Sox manager Rick Renteria.
"He has taken his experiences from last year and learned what he can control and not control," Renteria said. "He can now compartmentalize and continue to execute his other pitches."
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.
