Sox market surge
Chitown hurler can provide fantasy boost
WE’RE at a point in the fantasy baseball season at which you’re looking for help in every nook and c ra n ny of the waiver wire. You’re willing to consider picking up just about any player with a name on a jersey as long as he can bring the production you need, no matter how crazy it makes you look to the rest of the league.
Why? You want to win. It is like being addicted to a drug and you’re just trying to get your next fix. You need to feel that sensation of squashing the competition, and if that means using a pitcher who is owned in less than 5 percent of leagues instead of struggling or injured aces — like Luis Severino, Noah Syndergaard, Chris Sale or Trevor Bauer — so be it. You have to do what it takes to get that feeling. You always can go to rehab once the season is over.
You have to be willing to venture to the deepest and darkest places of the fantasy universe to find players who you to fantasy glory. Miserable places like Guaranteed Rate Field.
Lucas Giolito went 6-8 with a 6.18 ERA, 60 walks (in 64²/₃ innings) and just 5.5 strikeouts per nine for a lousy White Sox team in the first half of the year.
Things have turned around, though. Not only did the White Sox enter Fr iday 20-19 since the break, Gi ol i to is 4-1 with a 4.53 ERA but just 17 walks (in 47 ²/₃ innings) and 9.1 strikeouts per nine in eight secondhalf starts. He is 3-0 with a 2.83 ERA, 27:6 strikeout-to-walk rate and a .191 opponent average over his past four starts.
Still think trusting this former first-round pick sounds insane? Well, let Roto Rage convince you Giolito actually can help down the stretch.
Giolito, who was Roto Rage’s LVP (Least Valuable Pitcher) at the break, is 3-5 with a 7.52 ERA in the very unfriendly confines of the horribly-named Guaranteed Rate Field, but is 7-4 with a 4.27 ERA in 14 road starts. Three of his final five probable starts will come on the road, and come against the Orioles, Royals and Twins. What’s the big deal? Well ... The Orioles are not only historically bad, they also have a lineup that is predominantly right-handed. Who has held opposing righties to a .227 average this season? Yup, Giolito.
The Royals are hitting .242 as a team, but guess which pitcher has held them to a .191 average (including a .215 average at Kauffman Stadium) in his five career starts against them? Yup, Giolito.
The Twins are hitting .245, but guess who is 2-1 with a 3.93 ERA and a .235 opponent average in three career starts at Target Field? Yup, Giolito.
Roto Rage is not suggesting you build dynasty or keeper league rotations around Giolito. Though he has upside, he has plenty of downfalls. But he is a pitcher with a history of performing well against teams he will be facing down the stretch and who has performed well over the past two months.
S o met i mes yo u find what you need in the unlikeliest of places, and sometimes those who find success are the ones who are willing to do what others are not. It mightseem crazy to pick up and trust a pitcher like Giolito, but it may be a move that helps you get that muchneeded fix.