Say What?

Lucas Giolito pitched six innings of no-hit ball last night at Yankee Stadium,. Too bad it took Giolito 100 pitches to get there. For better or worse, manager Pedro Grifol brought in Joe Kelly for the seventh. The Yankees then got their first hit of the game with a two-out double that Luis Robert Jr. definitely could’ve caught but didn’t in a miscommunication with left fielder Andrew Benintendi. A 3-0 lead courtesy of two homeruns from catcher Seby Zavala turned into a 3-1 game which turned into a 3-2 game in the ninth when Josh Donaldson homered on the first pitch he saw from Liam Hendriks. Three groundouts to Tim Anderson later, and Hendriks had his first save of the season. Good thing I’m not a White Sox beat reporter. Because I’d make it my calling to be Rick Hahn’s shadow, the better to ask him what he’s going to do about Giolito, now 5-4 on the season with a 3.75 ERA. The righthander turns twenty-nine next month and a free agent at season’s end. Is Giolito another Carlos Rodon? No, and with Rodon yet to throw a pitch this season after signing a six-year $162 million deal with them, the Yankees probably wish they had Giolito instead. Is Giolito another Jacob deGrom, now set for his second Tommy John surgery after signing with the Rangers for six-years at $185 million? No, and the Rangers are probably wishing they had spent that money on someone not turning thirty-five in a couple of weeks. How do the Sox intend to replace Giolito? That’s the question Hahn should face every day he appears in public. Does he think Mike Clevinger is the answer? Lance Lynn? Someone in the minors so hidden nobody has heard of him? Curious minds want to know. The thing about Giolito is he’s probably the smartest person in any room he enters. Not only does he know that, he knows everyone in the room knows it, On top of that, he’s self-deprecating so as not to make anyone feel uncomfortable. That’s either an endearing or infuriating trait. I go with number one. If you have to overpay for pitching (and you do), then you give the money to a pretty young player with his head screwed on right as opposed to the likes of Trevor Bauer. Right, Rick? Speaking of the Sox GM, Grifol is a quick learner when it comes to blowing Hahn-smoke. Consider what he had to say about not starting Jake Burger last night. All Burger did in the game before was hit a walk-off grand slam. “I’m not going to sit there and explain why. Just know that if [Burger isn’t] playing, that if it’s [Gavin] Sheets or somebody else playing, that’s a better matchup that particular day. We’re going to put the best matchup out there. And that’s a good problem to have. To provide what Burger provides, who doesn’t want Burger in the lineup? I want him, too. However, we only have nine spots. And it’s really not nine spots because he can’t catch, play shortstop or center field.” [today’s Sun-Times] What Grifol failed to mention was that the righthanded Burger has eight of his twelve homers against righties, along with twenty-one of his twenty-nine RBIs. He hits lefties for higher average—.282 vs. .258 against right-handers—but the tradeoff in power is well worth it. The only possible knock on Burger is that virtually all of his production has come at home; only one homer and three RBIs have come on the road. The one way to change that is to play him more on the road. I mean, if you want the best matchup and all.