Through two starts, Lucas Giolito hasn’t had the debut run for the Los Angeles Angels that they envisioned in his initial tenure with the club.
Giolito is 0-2 with a 12.00 ERA with the Angels, and has allowed five home runs in just nine innings of work. A majority of the damage came against the Atlanta Braves his last time out, when he struggled to make it through 3.2 innings, giving up nine earned on eight hits, three by way of the long ball.
The Southern California native made both starts on the road, and now with his next turn scheduled to be his first at home, Giolito is eyeing his Angel Stadium debut, per J.P. Hoornstra of the O.C. Register:
“California weather, that’s what I grew up in, it’s what I’m used to,” he said. “I like the mound. I like the feel of the stadium. I’ve always enjoyed it.”
In five career starts in Angel Stadium, Giolito is 3-0 with a 3.86 ERA. Although past success with another team isn’t a clear indicator of his future outings, he’s shown some comfort in his new, home ballpark.
“If I let the moment get too big, I feel that’s when I can lose focus on the task at hand,” Giolito said. “It’s all about my preparation leading up to it, going out and executing one pitch at a time. That’s how I like to operate, especially considering my last two haven’t been good.”
The Angels must find some semblance of consistent starting pitching if they intend to have a turnaround point, so Giolito having a large hand in that is paramount. Struggling against the Braves isn’t uncommon, because they’ve beat up on so many pitchers this season. It’s in his best eye to look ahead and turn the page while getting back to the top-end production he’s so used to displaying.
Angels ‘upset’ with results despite effort
A late-game meltdown on Monday from the Angels bullpen was their season of struggles bottled up into one. An area of the team that has been fairly solid, anchored by their All-Star closer, faltered in an 8-3 loss.
They’ve lost four games that were decided by two or fewer runs, which means the Angels could have one or two things swing their way and things go completely different.
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