To the surprise of no one, Lucas Giolito has been named the Opening Day starting pitcher for the White Sox. Manager Rick Renteria announced the move by holding up a bobblehead of the team’s ace in a call with reporters this afternoon, thus making it official.
Giolito, 26, is coming off his remarkable 2019 season. He finished the year with a 14-9 record, 228 strikeouts, 3.41 ERA, 1.064 WHIP, and his first-ever All-Star appearance. He also finished 6th in Cy Young voting and was the obvious choice in a rotation that will likely feature Dallas Keuchel, Carlos Rodon, Dylan Cease, Reynaldo Lopez, and Gio Gonzalez in some capacity.
As for Minnesota, they will be sending right-hander Jose Berrios to the mound. The Twins’ top arm, who didn’t get to pitch in an intrasquad game this summer, was named an All-Star for a second-straight year after a solid 2019 campaign. He went 14-8 with 195 strikeouts, a 3.68 ERA, and 1.223 WHIP.
Narrowing things down a bit further, Berrios owned a 6.60 strikeout to walk ratio against the Sox in five games last season, though Ricky’s boys slashed .267/.299/.385 with four homers and 18 runs scored in that stretch. On the opposite end, Giolito had a 3.24 ERA over 25.0 innings pitched against the AL Central foe and notbaly threw a complete game shutout against the team on August 21, 2019. Both arms will be challenged early, as two very potent offenses present a difficult first test.
The White Sox said it best in their tweet, it’s on.
Be sure to follow us on social media @SoxOn35th for more updates!
Featured photo: White Sox/Twitter