Giolito ready to lead White Sox staff in 2020

CHICAGO -- White Sox manager Rick Renteria wasn’t ready to name Lucas Giolito as his team's Opening Day starter Wednesday, with a little more than two weeks remaining until the White Sox host the Twins on July 24.

However, it's an extremely safe bet, bordering on a lead-pipe cinch assuming no health issues, that the right-hander will get that honor. And the 25-year-old All-Star is ready to become the staff's ace in 2020.

There’s just one caveat: Giolito won’t have to carry Chicago's deep rotation by himself.

“The way I look at it, being the ace of the staff, you are setting an example not just with what you are doing on the field, but also taking a more vocal role, which I feel like I’m trying to continue to get the feel for that,” Giolito said during a Wednesday afternoon Zoom call. “That’s pretty much what I want.

“I want to be that leader of the pitching staff, taking the ball in the first game, kind of setting the tone. But at the same time, I want to maintain that thought that I’m not the only ace on the team. I’ve got four more right behind me.”

Giolito was the only starter pitching Wednesday, getting up and down three times during a Summer Camp simulated game at Guaranteed Rate Field. It marked Giolito’s first game action in more than four months, after he threw his only Cactus League inning against the Cubs on March 6 in Mesa, Ariz.

Giolito opened his outing by striking out Tim Anderson swinging, then followed that by striking out Luis Robert looking. He induced a long flyout from José Abreu to end the frame, but he stayed on the mound to face James McCann, who doubled to left.

Giolito issued two walks to open the second, but he pitched better in the third, which included a strikeout of Eloy Jiménez. Giolito felt good to be back on the mound, pitching at game speed.

“First inning, I felt, was a nice pace, established some pitches there. Second inning, rushing, I felt like I was a little bit out of my mechanics and needed to make an adjustment,” Giolito said. “In a real game, that’s something McCann would recognize. After I walked the first guy and went 2-0, the next guy, he’d be out there getting me reset. Third inning, bounced back, made the necessary adjustment. It was a solid inning for me. It was good work. I’m not going to fret over the results.”

“He's certainly building up to being who he is,” Renteria said. “We were just glad to get out there and have guys face him. We expect Lucas will be certainly ready to go. There's no doubt in our mind.”

Last season, Giolito finished tied for sixth in American League Cy Young Award voting after he went 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA and 228 strikeouts over 176 2/3 innings. However, he admitted to being a two-pitch pitcher when his slider was absent during his breakout campaign, so he worked on his offspeed offering this offseason and changed the shape of his slider when he was in Arizona.

“Honestly, it’s one of the biggest things I’ve been working on,” Giolito said. “All the other stuff, it’s all about maintenance. I know what I need to do to be successful to put myself in a position to go out there and do what I know I can do.”

Giolito’s next start should come Monday. He feels ready to throw six-plus innings after maintaining a three-inning workout clip during quarantine, and his workload will get bumped up as he puts himself in line for Opening Day, with an extra day of rest factored in before he'll likely face the Twins.

“I'm putting myself in the position where I want to feel comfortable throwing at least six innings my first game,” Giolito said. “Now, whether we do that or not, that's up to Ricky and [White Sox pitching coach Don Cooper]. But that's kind of where I want to be physically, and I do want to be prepared to treat every start like I'm ready to go nine innings once we get the season going a little bit.

“Our starting staff, we are very close both on and off the field. We can continue to push each other to get better and better and kind of feed off each other’s good outings.”