From the Locker Room: Lucas looks ahead to the playoffs
For a guy with a regular-season start remaining, it felt a little odd to roll out the postseason questions, but, here we are.
The very first for Lucas propositioned whether the 2020 White Sox would be a disappointment if they lost in the first round of the playoffs.
While conceding that from the start of the season standpoint, just making the playoffs this fall is a measure of success, Giolito didn't stop there: "For us, if you don’t win the World Series, you didn’t achieve what you were supposed to do."
Soon afterward, Giolito was asked whether he'd have nerves as he stepped to the mound in Game 1 next week.
"I don’t think so," he said, thoughtful as always. "For me, I’m looking at it from the positive end: 'OK, we made the playoffs, why not go out and pitch the best I can to put us in the best position?' If I think about nervousness or negative feelings, that’s going to throw me off."
For a guy who's never experienced the playoffs, Lucas definitely has a plan in mind, and plenty of anticipation.
"There’s nothing like it," he said. "Excitement at an all-time high. It’s going to be a new experience. It’s going to be a ton of fun. That’s what I’m focused on, enjoying it. Just go out there and give it my 100%. Just enjoy the experience despite [baseball in 2020] being a little different and weird.
"Hopefully, it's the first of many."
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Lucas Giolito video courtesy of the Chicago White Sox.
Actor (final credit: murdered by Albert Einstein in "Carnage Hall"), musician (Ethnocentric Republicans), and Nerf hoops champion, Wiffleball aficionado and onetime bilingual kindergarten teacher, Brett Ballantini also writes about baseball, basketball and sometimes hockey, for the NBA, MLB, NHL, and Slam, Hoop, Sporting News, the Athletic, SB Nation and others. He was CSN Chicago’s Blackhawks beat writer when their 49-year Stanley Cup drought ended in 2009-10, and took over the White Sox beat after that. He currently is the editor-in-chief of South Side Hit Pen and beat writer for Inside the Rays. He also wrote a book about Ozzie Guillén but is running out of space, so follow him on Twitter @BrettBallantini and he'll probably tell you even more about himself than you ever wanted to know.