So You've Decided to Start a Lefty vs. the White Sox
It's the stat that's been thrown around more than imperfect batting practice balls on a Sunday morning: The Chicago White Sox absolutely mash lefties. It's been repeated ad nauseam, to the point where one might even question the validity of such a statement due to the fact that it seems like low-hanging fruit to validate the White Sox offense.
And yes, it's true: The White Sox are the first team in MLB history to go undefeated versus left-handed pitching, finishing the 2020 season with a 14-0 record. That's impressive! And while wins only show part of the picture, the proof is in the pudding: The offense's line is .285/.364/.523 against both left-handed starters and relievers: that's the highest slugging percentage against lefties since the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955.
The White Sox not only hit lefties well, but they also hit velocity rather well, too. And Oakland A's starter Jesús Luzardo is ... a hard-throwing lefty.
What's the worst that can happen, right?
When things go right for the White Sox, they go very right. With that being said, let's break down Wild Card Game One.
You're perfect to me, Lucas Giolito
Perhaps what would have been the show-stealing storyline of this game (but still very important!) is the effort today by starter Lucas Giolito, who was perfect through six innings. The first Oakland hitter of the seventh inning, Tommy La Stella, found one of Giolito's rare mistakes on a changeup, slapping it up the middle for a single.
As you read in today's pregame column, Giolito's effectiveness would rely on seamlessly working through the first inning, keeping his pitch count low, and aggressively going after hitters. That's kind of what we saw today, but Giolito went about it in a rather peculiar fashion.
This was, at first, an unusual start from Giolito, who on most days is a strikeout pitcher who relies on properly sequencing his fastball and changeup, with some breaking stuff whirled into the mix. Early on, Giolito threw primarily fastball after fastball, somehow forcing the Oakland lineup to ground and pop-up outs in a seemingly effortless manner.
It wasn't until the sixth inning until we actually saw vintage Giolito come out to play—and still, he relied more on the slider for those delicious swinging strikes everyone loves so much.
He located the heck out of that fastball, and gave the White Sox a strong, seven-inning outing for Game 1. And the intensity. THE INTENSITY!
Giolito's final line: seven innings pitched, and one earned run off of two hits, and one walk. He finished the day with eight strikeouts, most of which didn't happen until later in his outing.
You're perfect to me, Lucas.
Hey, did you know that the White Sox mash lefties?
Well, did you?
Tim Anderson did some important table-setting in the first inning, with a single off Luzardo. He was stranded at third, however. He'd manage to get on base again to contribute to the final score, but we'll get to that later.
Adam Engel got things started in the second inning by finding Luzardo early for an 0-2 solo shot:
So, apparently the White Sox can hit lefties, AND they also hit velocity, or something. Remember that Anderson single a few sentences back? Well, he did it again. And then MVP favorite José Abreu, like Anderson in his postseason debut, did this:
Now with two postseason RBIs under his belt, the league leader in runs batted in continues to do MVP things.
There's nothing quite like insurance runs to supplement Giolito's strong pitching performance, and Yasmani Grandal heard the call to action, with a gorgeous solo shot in the eighth on a full count, off old friend Joakim Soria:
In the regular season, the White Sox were 30-16 when they hit at least one homer; we here at SSHP think three home runs will certainly fortify any chances of winning.
Stuff we're legally required to mention
Oakland's lone run came in the eighth inning, where Evan Marshall, in relief of Giolito, had Ramon Laureano ground into a force out, driving in Mark Canha.
Canha was walked by Giolito, the ace's only walk of the afternoon. Jake Lamb then singled off Giolito (only the second hit for Oakland), moving Canha to third.
Big D hours approach
The White Sox could very well make quick work out of the Oakland Athletics, as they now face elimination. Tomorrow, Dallas Keuchel takes the mound for the White Sox, while former White Sox pitcher Chris Bassitt is tasked with starting Game 2 for Oakland. Bassitt does not care much for the fact that the White Sox hit lefties very well, which is his personal decision, and we at SSHP respect that.
Keuchel is a postseason veteran who has bestowed plenty of wisdom upon his teammates, given that you could point randomly to any member of the 2020 White Sox and chances are that player made their postseason debut today. This is a young and exciting team! They also hit lefty pitchers well.
As always, we'll have plenty of quality coverage for you at SSHP; catch Game 2 televised tomorrow at 2:10 p.m. CT on ESPN.
