Lucas Giolito finished sixth in the American League for Cy Young Award voting in 2019, and followed that season with two more outstanding years at the top of the White Sox starting rotation. Then, 2022 happened.

An injury early in the season and missed time in May because of COVID-19, certainly didn’t help Giolito begin the 2022 season as smooth as he would have liked following an offseason that saw MLB lockout the players. The right-handed pitcher bulked up last winter and whether or not that factored into his struggles, it appears as though Giolito is slimming down a bit this year and changing his mechanics on the mound.

Lucas Giolito Mechanics

Giolito is one of several major leaguers attending a CAA (his agent’s company) event this week at the Chapman Baseball Compound in Southern California. The White Sox pitcher has been working out and a few days ago we saw a video of Giolito throwing, featuring what looks like new mechanics in his wind up.

We broke down the changes we noticed on this week’s Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast.

From 2019-21, Giolito made 72 starts and recorded a 3.47 ERA in 427.2 innings, averaging a little more than 11 strikeouts per nine innings. This past season, Giolito had a 4.90 ERA in 161.2 innings. The 2023 season is obviously huge for the White Sox, who are trying to bounce back from a brutally, mediocre 2022 and get back in the playoffs, but it’s also important for Giolito as it’s his final season prior to hitting free agency.

We’ll see if the first normal offseason for Giolito since 2019, will get him back to form following his disappointing 2022 campaign.

White Sox Should Add More Outfield Depth?

Andrew Benintendi signed the biggest free agent contract in White Sox history this offseason and top-100 prospect Oscar Colas is expected to become the starting right field at some point in 2023. The White Sox are hoping Luis Robert can stay healthy and fulfill his star potential in center field, but as optimistic as you want to feel about the outfield, this team could probably still use more depth.

It’s not that Rick Hahn and the front office hasn’t attempted to do this, adding Victor Reyes, Billy Hamilton and most recently Jake Marisnick, while also having Gavin Sheets, but do you really feel comfortable with any of those guys being the fourth outfielder or needing one of them step in as a starter if Colas isn’t ready for the majors yet? The thing is, there aren’t exactly many guys available who are that much better, but maybe a Robbie Grossman adds a higher floor as the fourth outfielder on this White Sox roster?

Luis Arraez Traded to the Marlins

In four seasons with the Minnesota Twins, Luis Arraez hit .314, and in 2022 he won the AL batting title after hitting .316 in 144 games. Since making his MLB debut in 2019, Arraez also established himself as a White Sox killer.

But now, White Sox don’t have to worry about seeing Arraez at the top of the Twins lineup because he was traded to the Miami Marlins on Friday. In return, the Twins are adding Pablo López to their starting rotation along with two prospects.

So, what do you think, White Sox fans? Feel better with Arraez out of the division or do you not like the fact that the Twins got stronger in the rotation? Let us know in the comments.

One last thing, the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast is giving away two tickets to a White Sox game in 2023 right behind their dugout. We’ll be officially setting up the giveaway IF the Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast gets to 1,000 subscribers on YouTube by Opening Day.

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