Lucas Giolito's first Opening Day start has him jonesing for Friday night
Of course, as the top of the session White Sox starter Lucas Giolito was asked about getting his first career Opening Day start, and it's certainly not something the righty takes for granted.
But it's been preordained long before Ricky Renteria picked up a Giolito bobblehead earlier in the week, so let's cut to some juicier stuff.
After hearing Giolito mention some measures the team was taking to police themselves during this trepidatious season, I followed up by asking the hurler whether he was referring to mere general safety guidelines, or whether team leadership had actually gotten together to figure out a way to navigate the pandemic safely off the field.
"When we’re on the road, we're making sure we’re holding each other accountable, not going out to bars," he says. "We want to keep our eyes on the prize."
After hearing in recent days (and all Summer Camp, really) about just how good this White Sox team is, Giolito was certainly not hesitant about piling on.
"Our talent is through the roof," he says. "We’ve really come together as a team. The culture, the banter, in years past you could see the talent, but we weren't putting it together ... this is going to be the year we really kick it off."
And another aspect of this session that makes it must-watch is Giolito banter with Carlos Rodón. Just as Giolito fields a question about the southpaw, Rodón unwittingly begins to clown Lucas a bit off-screen. Says Giolito: "Can you go do your work? I have to answer a question about you. It’s embarrassing."
And even after questions, Lucas extended his session with a final, unprompted statement about the death of Ed Farmer this spring: "I just want to say rest in peace, Farmio. He is going to be missed this year, big time. What he provided for us in terms of companionship, stories … I just want to make sure we’re keeping him in mind this season."
For the full Giolito media session, courtesy of the White Sox as Lucas checks in from the locker room, watch below:
