Everyone gets told at least once in their life that hard work pays off. Some people adhere to this advice and will work diligently at anything and everything. Others may just be gifted enough to go off of God-given talent. For Lucas Giolito, hard work, perseverance, and overcoming adversity are three things that propelled him to where he is now – an ace on a team with tons of playoff potential.
Giolito moved into a full-time starting role two years ago. In 2018, Lucas Giolito was 56th amongst all major league starting pitchers. That’s dead last. He went 10-13 with an ERA of 6.49, allowed 4.67 walks per game, and opposing hitters were .268 against him. In 2019, we saw that big turnaround happen. He jumped from the cellar all the way to the tenth best pitcher in all of baseball. He had a record of 14-9 with an ERA of 3.41. Until about late-August, his ERA was under three. In addition, he reduced the walks per nine innings by 62%, dropping it down to 2.9. He also used his off-speed stuff beautifully, averaging 11.62 strikeouts per game. It really was an unheard of turn around.
So, what went into all of this? The answer is simple – hard work and perhaps the addition of a solid backstop who knew how to use Giolito’s stuff pretty well in James McCann.
The first thing he did was change his mechanics. Drastically.
In this video, you can see he used weighted balls to begin to shift the change in his motion. The front leg is coming up higher, and he’s gaining tons of strength and torque when he shifts his body. Because of his tall and lean frame, it’s easy for those long arms to get out of whack and lose his control. That’s partially why he was walking so many batters in 2018. The hard work he put in is impressive and it has certainly paid off.
Fast forward to the 2020 season, Giolito is currently 3-2 with an ERA of just over three. He’s averaging 12.2 stirkeouts per game, and all of his pitches have worked for him. That being said, what can we actually learn from Lucas Giolito?
The first thing, is obviously to work hard at something if you want to succeed. That’s what Lucas has done. That’s what has gotten him to where he is today.
Another, is to not be afraid to lean on people. Lucas didn’t transform into the pitcher he’s become by himself. He went to clinics, like the one in his Instagram post, to learn new techniques to improve his physique and better his pitching. He also has gotten a ton of support and help from his catcher, James McCann. Those two are a pitcher-catcher tandem like none other. Giolito admitted that, during his no-hitter, he only shook McCann off once. One time, in 101 pitches. The other 100 times, he fully trusted his catcher with whatever he believed to be the right pitch.
Lastly, when you get knocked down, you get back up. For this instance, I look back to Opening Day. It was a horrible game for Giolito from the first pitch, which was jacked by Max Kepler. A lot of people wrote him off after that one bad start, and said he was not ace material; but the next outing for Giolito was lights out. The White Sox were 1-4 entering the third of three games with the Indians. A loss would have been detrimental. Giolito was not phased. He came back and pitched six innings of shutout ball, racking up six K’s in the process. He bounced back big time.
Lucas Giolito is someone we can all look up to, and is no doubt a leader for the White Sox. His story of how he got to where he is is one that every young baseball player should hear, and every fan can appreciate. Here’s to you, Lucas!
Featured Photo: White Sox/Twitter
