Lucas Giolito didn’t have the best start last night against the Minnesota Twins. Josh Donaldson tee’d up on Giolito’s center-cut fastball for a two-run homer in the first inning. As Donaldson crossed home plate, he was yelling something to his dugout.
Donaldson is no stranger to creating drama by hitting home runs at Guaranteed Rate Field. Last year, he got ejected after crossing home plate. His ejection helped the White Sox win that game and clinch a postseason berth. As far as suggesting Giolito is guilty of using illegal substances, we still don’t know for sure if the White Sox ace was, but his spin rate results are dropping since June 20.
Eno Sarris of The Athletic is doing a terrific job tracking the impact since June 20 of MLB’s enforcement. A standard deviation is around 150 rpm for fastball spin. Giolito’s spin rate drop is between one standard deviation and two standard deviations.
I’m not aware of Giolito having a reputation for using illegal substances before June 20. Still, if the spin rate will be the source of truth-telling us which pitchers were, Twins starter Kenta Maeda should be scrutinized. Hell, it will be difficult not to find a pitcher who is not impacted by MLB’s enforcement of illegal substances by pitchers.
Donaldson’s verbal jab got Giolito’s attention, who had some choice words during his postgame conference.
I’m looking forward to the next Donaldson vs. Giolito at-bat. Speaking of spin rates, Dylan Cease’s start today will be his second since the enforcement, and there was a significant fastball rpm drop in his previous start.
White Sox June Home Run Woes
Today is the last day of June, and the Chicago White Sox as a team have only hit 19 home runs for the month. That’s the fewest in the American League, and only the Arizona Diamondbacks have hit fewer (17). The White Sox have scored seven runs in back-to-back games without hitting a home run, which is impressive in its own right, but still concerning where the power has gone.
Especially with the monster months we are witnessing across baseball. Kyle Schwarber has hit 16 home runs this month!
Shohei Ohtani has hit 13 in June!
Vlad Guerrero Jr., Jose Altuve, and Jonathan Schoop also have double-digit home run totals in June.
The White Sox did receive hopeful news that internal reinforcements are coming soon to help with the home run problem. Eloy Jimenez broke the news on Instagram that he feels 100% and could be playing in rehab games next week.
Yesterday, the White Sox announced that Luis Robert is cleared for baseball activities. He ramps up over the next four weeks to follow Jimenez in rehab.
Still, the White Sox offense needs to generate more power as it could be another month before Jimenez is back with the team. That attention needs to be directed at Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada. This offense can’t afford those two only hitting a single dinger while batting in the middle of the order.
Jake Burger and Yoelqui Cespedes Invited to Futures Game
College World Series Final
Tonight is the last College Baseball game of the season. Mississippi State and Vanderbilt will clash in the College World Series final. Both Game 1 and Game 2 were lopsided victories, so it will be interesting to see if Game 3 follows a different path. I assume it will because we’ll get treated to a Kumar Rocker vs. Will Bednar duel on the mound. Great night to having multiple screens as Game 3 starts at 6 pm CT, and White Sox vs. Twins at 7 pm CT.
