The Duality Of Lucas Giolito, Cleveland Guardians News
Lucas Giolito's second start with the Cleveland Guardians went better than his first. It'd be pretty difficult to do worse than giving up nine runs in 3.0 innings of work and thankfully that didn't happen.
However, some of the same issues that plagued that game showed up once again as Giolito made a start against his former team, the Los Angeles Angels. The Angels have been searching for any sort of offensive identity considering the number of players who are on the injured list but had no problem against Cleveland.
The Angels scored four runs on Giolito in the 7.0 innings he pitched. Every single one of those runs came via the long ball as LA hit a total of three off the Guardians' right-handed pitcher.
There's another side to this coin though. If you take away the three pitches Giolito threw that were obvious mistakes, you'll find a solid start from the 29-year-old.
Giolito's 7.0 innings tie a season-high for most innings he's pitched in a start all season. He also struck out nine batters and didn't issue a single walk the entire game. The righty threw a total of 92 pitches in his start and 67 of them were strikes so he wasn't having any trouble with his command. He even had a stretch where he sent down eight batters in a row.
Sep 9, 2023; Anaheim, California, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Lucas Giolito (27) pitches during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports
Giolito admitted after the game that he needs to do a better job at not giving up the long ball:
"It's unfortunate my mistakes continue to get punished pretty severely with the home runs. So, I just have to tune up the fastball command that'll really help as far as limiting the damage."
The ability to be a top-of-the-rotation starter is there and we saw that when Giolito adjusted to throwing more slider then fastballs. However, he will continue to find himself as the losing pitcher as long as he continues to give up the long ball.
