Gamethread: White Sox at Royals

Happy Wednesday! After a long day of baseball yesterday and a split doubleheader, the Chicago White Sox will play yet another game against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. In the fourth game of this long, five-game series, the team will look to bounce back and score some runs after a great pitching day yesterday that resulted in only getting one win.

I know people may be tired of Kansas City already, but there’s still two more games before heading to Yankee Stadium, so honestly let’s try and enjoy the respite as much as we can. The White Sox will look to break their .500 record at 18-18, as Lucas Giolito is back from his short COVID-19 related IL stint.

Davis Martin has returned to Triple-A Charlotte after his great debut last night, but with him on the 40-man roster, we can expect more outings from him in the future. Also, if you panicked like me when you saw that Lance Lynn was transferred to the 60-day injured list, don’t worry, as there’s an explanation.

Although this will be his sixth game, Giolito currently holds a 2-1 record with a 2.70 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He also has 37 strikeouts in 26 ²⁄₃ innings, which is quite impressive. His last outing was against the Cleveland Guardians, where he went a solid seven innings with six hits, one run, one walk, and five strikeouts. It might be the optimist in me, but I can see him adding to that strikeout total with a big crooked number against this Royals lineup tonight, especially with Salvador Pérez being out.

Giolito throws his fastball the most at 48.6% of the time. His second pitch is his changeup at 23.6%, which continues to be his best pitch in my opinion. He also has been incorporating his slider more at 19.9%, and his curveball at 7.9%.

Zach Greinke will take the mound for the Royals, back this year where he started his career in 2004, and currently holds a 0-2 record with a 3.52 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. He only has 14 strikeouts in 38 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched, and of course because I noted that it is only fitting he will reach double-digit strikeouts tonight, because that is such a White Sox thing to happen. Greinke’s last game against the Colorado Rockies was a shorter outing, with 4 ²⁄₃ innings pitched and eight hits, five runs, and four strikeouts.

The South Siders have already faced Greinke once this year, at Guaranteed Rate Field, where he went six innings with five hits, three runs, and four strikeouts. Hopefully the White Sox can see him a little better this outing. Greinke’s pitching arsenal consists of his fastball thrown 38.8% of the time followed by his curveball (21.4%), slider (20.9%), and changeup (16.8%).

Tim Anderson is back to lead it off followed by Yoán Moncada at third, Luis Robert in center, and José Abreu at first. Yasmani Grandal is behind the plate and AJ Pollock will get the start in left field. Leury García stays in the lineup at second base after playing both games of the doubleheader yesterday, and Adam Engel will be in right field while Andrew Vaughn is the DH, batting ... ninth again.

Game time is at 7:10 p.m. CT, and you can watch on NBCSCHI with Jason and Gordon or listen in on ESPN 1000.