With so much talent on the White Sox roster, the 2022 season still has many scratching their heads, wondering how things went so wrong. Lucas Giolito didn’t mince words when asked about it on the Chris Rose Rotation. “We sucked. That’s it.”
Giolito’s assessment is pretty spot on. The White Sox finished second in the American League Central Division despite being heavy favorites to start the season. They massively underachieved in almost every department. On offense, they ranked 22nd in home runs, 19th in runs scored, and 18th in slugging percentage and OBP. The pitching staff ranked ninth in the MLB in walks, while the defense led the American League in errors and passed balls. Overall they were underwhelming across the board.
Giolito was one of the culprits on the pitching staff. After three consecutive seasons with a sub-four ERA, which included two top-ten finishes in the Cy Young voting and an All-Star appearance in 2019, the team’s ace came crashing down to earth. His ERA ballooned up to 4.90, and he issued his most walks since 2018.
To Giolito’s credit, he wasn’t making any excuses.
“There’s no excuse,” Giolito told Rose. “I sucked. Some guys did really well. I don’t want to speak for other guys on the team, right? I sucked. I’m one of the starting pitchers on the team. It’s important that I do well for the team to do well. You know, I’m sure if you ask other guys on the team, they’ll probably have a similar answer. “
"We sucked…there's no excuse" Lucas Giolito reflects on the 2022 White Sox season
WATCH: https://t.co/QDPhGV3epT
LISTEN: https://t.co/FjH6K6WPxg pic.twitter.com/Am4dabyEki— Chris Rose Sports (@ChrisRoseSports) October 25, 2022
He continued, “I’m not going to point fingers at our manager. I’m not going to point fingers at the front office. They’re not the ones taking the ball. They’re not the ones playing. That’s pretty much it. We sucked.”
It is nice to see the 28-year-old place the blame on the players. It should motivate the club as they head into the offseason. Unfortunately for Giolito, he is in a tough spot this off-season. Giolito wants a long-term contract, while the front office is hesitant.
Last year he narrowly avoided arbitration with the White Sox after agreeing to a one-year $7.45 million deal. The deal was reached after a tense negotiation that saw the teams $50,000 dollars apart. The 6’6″ right-hander submitted $7.5 million, and the White Sox submitted $7.3 million.
This offseason, he will enter his third year of arbitration, and the down year will not help his cause. There is no denying Giolito’s talent. He has some of the best stuff in baseball when he is at the top of his game. The pressure will be on the California native next season to bounce back if he wants to score a big payday.
Just glad Tonys gone. Lossing Abreu sucks thou.
Overrated
James McCann
Maybe they need to bring Jim MacCann back.