Lucas Giolito entered Monday’s start against the Philadelphia Phillies hoping to build off of his most recent start, undoubtedly his best as a member of the Los Angeles Angels. And while Giolito did go 5.2 innings against one of the stronger lineups in Major League Baseball, the Phillies’ superstars overpowered the newest Angels starter.
A trio of home runs — one from Bryce Harper and two from Trea Turner — put five runs on the board for Philadelphia and tacked an 11th loss onto Giolito’s record this season. The former Chicago White Sox starter is now 1-5 since joining the Angels with a 6.89 ERA. His season ERA has jumped from 3.79 to 4.45 in six starts.
It wasn’t a case of one bad pitch either. All three homers were hit off of different pitches that caught too much of the plate. Turner’s were both offspeed but in the zone, while Harper’s was a middle-cut fastball, an easy pitch for one of this era’s best hitters.
Giolito was honest in his assessment of not only Monday’s start, but the early returns on his tenure as an Angel, according to Jeff Fletcher of The O.C. Register:
“It’s been very poor,” he said. “No other way to put it.”
“I like how the ball’s coming out, but I lost feel way too many times,” Giolito said. “Four walks. Two of them were on four pitches. Just kind of uncompetitive pitches. Then missing (in the) middle to good hitters and getting punished for that. It’s not a good outing.”
Giolito, an All-Star in 2019 and a top-12 Cy Young Award finisher from 2019-21, has fallen on another slump similar to what he went through for much of the 2022 season. It’s possible he’s still adjusting to the new team or will break out of the slump in a natural way, but he has certainly not been the pitcher that the Angels gave up their No. 2 and No. 3 prospects for.
Now, the question becomes whether or not Giolito can get some rhythm back before the season ends and he enters free agency for the first time in his career.
Griffin Canning feeling good after returning to rotation
While Giolito finds his rhythm, Griffin Canning returned to the starting rotation in grand fashion with a one-run, seven-inning outing on Sunday afternoon in Queens. The Angels starter said he felt good after putting together a strong start and commended the game plan from the team, himself and catcher Chad Wallach.