Tag: Lucas Giolito

Lucas Giolito on Astros’ 2017 World Series: ‘All those teams were cheating’

Maybe Houston wasn’t the only problem.

Many fans and players around baseball are still rightfully worked up over the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal in 2017 and 2018. Especially since the Astros won the World Series at the height of the scheme.

Lucas Giolito has a bit of a tougher time with that line of thinking. And he doesn’t believe Houston winning the World Series against the Philadelphia Phillies this year is required to legitimize the Astros’ previous title run.

Speaking to Chris Rose Rotation show via Jomboy Media, the White Sox starter said he believes every team in the 2017 postseason was cheating—the Astros were just the only ones who got caught red-handed.

“Based on everything I’ve heard, it was like all the teams that were in the postseason that year were doing the same [expletive],” Giolito told Rose. “I think that’s also kinda why the players kinda had that half-apology energy when they were apologizing for all this stuff, because they probably knew like ‘Man we got caught, but everyone was kinda doing this stuff.'”

The 2017 postseason featured the Yankees, Dodgers, Red Sox, Cubs, Guardians, Diamondbacks and Rockies with the Astros defeating New York in the ALCS before taking down the Dodgers in seven games to claim the World Series.

This is not an entirely new line of thinking from Giolito. In 2017, the Yankees and Red Sox accused each other of using technology to decode and transmit signs. The Brewers accused the Dodgers of doing the same during the 2018 NLCS and former Houston bench coach and Red Sox manager Alex Cora is implicated in commissioner Rob Manfred’s final report on the matter.

Again, Houston has rightfully grabbed the majority of the headlines for its use of sign stealing technology, but it certainly seems as though players around the sport have a bit more trouble determining who the real villains are here.

Whether or not a title in 2022 would legitimize the Astros’ dominance over the last decade almost seems moot. Especially when many of the current roster’s most-exciting players weren’t even around in 2017.

Does that make any of this any easier for fans to process? Probably not. But since when have baseball controversies ever been simple?

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Lucas Giolito has savage response for Josh Donaldson’s ‘hand’s not sticky’ trash talk

Oh boy.

Josh Donaldson continues to be at the center of the MLB foreign substances controversy … and he’s not even a pitcher.

Earlier this month, he’s wondered aloud about New York Yankees pitcher Gerritt Cole no longer using substances to get a better spin rate.

And on Tuesday, after hitting a home run off Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito, he celebrated as he touched home plate by appearing to tell his teammates, “Hand’s not sticky anymore!”

Of course Giolito heard what the Minnesota Twins slugger said, and he responded in kind while speaking to reporters after the game.

“He’s an [expletive] pest. That’s kind of a classless move, if you’re going to talk [expletive], talk [expletive] to my face.”

Let’s break it all down.

Lucas Giolito struck out Mike Trout with the filthiest, unhittable changeup

Wow!

Lucas Giolito breaking out for the Chicago White Sox last year was one of the most intriguing stories for the franchise hoping the former first-rounder would become a dependable front-of-the-rotation starter.

With 97 strikeouts in 72.1 innings and a 3.48 ERA, it was no wonder he was the opening day starter this year. And with one pitch, he showed why that breakout may not have been a fluke.

Giolito tossed an 85 MPH changeup that seemed to fall off the plate at the last second to strike out … MIKE TROUT. Yes, THE Mike Trout. The best player in the game who’s won three MVPs.

LOOK AT THIS THING!

My goodness. We here at For The Win love pitches like this, as you may know.

Trout had the last laugh, though — he singled in the tying run in the eighth before Albert Pujols knocked in the game-winner for a 4-3 win.

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Watch now – Hilarious video ahead of 2020 college football season

SEC Shorts has put together a video that nearly perfectly gets you ready for college football in 2020. Watch it here!

Happy hump day.

Did you wake up today needing a laugh?

Unless you’re a Chicago White Sox fan and were up late celebrating Lucas Giolito’s no-hitter, you could probably use something to start your day right.

We have news this morning that the Big Ten would not have voted to cancel their football season had the vote been held today.  That only makes the following video that much better as we near college football season.

The following is courtesy of SEC Shorts and is done nearly perfectly.

SEC Shorts – Dramatic 2020 season road trip has a hard time getting started

The Big Ten not listening to anyone else, the smack-talk between the SEC and ACC and the masterful appearances from both the Big 12 and AAC.  All it’s missing is the Pac-12 doing whatever the Big Ten girl says and it would have been a perfect 10!

Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox odds, picks and best bets

Previewing Friday’s Minnesota Twins at Chicago White Sox sports betting odds and lines, with MLB betting picks, tips and best bets.

The Minnesota Twins open their 2020 season against the AL Central rival Chicago White Sox Friday at Guaranteed Rate Field for an 8:10 p.m. ET start. We analyze the Twins-White Sox MLB betting odds and lines, with betting advice and tips around the matchup.

Twins at White Sox: Projected starting pitchers

RHP Jose Berrios vs. RHP Lucas Giolito

Berrios made his second straight All-Star team while going 14-8 with a 3.68 ERA and 1.223 WHIP over 32 starts and 200 1/3 innings.

  • Declined over the second half of 2019 with a 4.64 ERA vs. his 3.00 mark from the first half.
  • Was better at home with a 3.51 ERA compared to a 3.84 road split.

Giolito made his first All-Star game in just his second full season. He went 14-9 with a 3.41 ERA and MLB highs of three complete games and two shutouts.

  • Went 2-2 in four starts against the AL Central champion Twins with a 3.24 ERA and 32 strikeouts against five walks and six home runs allowed.
  • Was much better on the road with a 2.83 ERA vs. his 4.06 mark at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Baseball season is finally here! Get some action on the 2020 season with an MLB bet at BetMGM in NJ, IN, CO and WV. Bet now!

Twins at White Sox: Key injuries

Visit sportsdata.usatoday.com to track all MLB injuries leading up to game time.

Twins

  • C Willians Astudillo (COVID-19) out
  • CF Byron Buxton (ankle) questionable
  • 3B Miguel Sano (past positive COVID-19 test) probable

White Sox

  • 2B Nick Madrigal (head) questionable
  • OF Nomar Mazara (illness) out
  • 2B Yoan Moncada (past positive COVID-19 test) probable

Twins at White Sox: Odds, lines, picks and betting tips

MLB odds courtesy of BetMGM; access USA TODAY Sports for a full list. Odds last updated Thursday at 3:10 p.m. ET.

Prediction

Twins 5, White Sox 2

Moneyline (ML)

Back the defending AL Central champion TWINS (-112). The White Sox (+100) are a favorite darkhorse pick around baseball this season, but they’re likely to be without multiple key young players in the early going due to COVID-19. They may challenge Minnesota for the division crown by the end of the season, but let them prove themselves before jumping on the bandwagon, especially at the sportsbook.

This game was priced as a pick ’em Tuesday afternoon with the odds dropping for Minnesota throughout the week.

New to sports betting? A $10 bet on the Twins would return a profit of $8.93 with a victory.

Run line/Against the spread (ATS)

Go ahead and chase the value with MINNESOTA -1.5 (+140) on the run line. Should the Twins win by a margin of at least two runs, the same $10 wager would return a profit of $14.

The Twins went 13-6 straight up against the White Sox last year and 13-6 against the spread. The White Sox should be much improved this season, but the Twins should also be able to pick up where they left off in the regular season with their ace on the hill.

Over/Under (O/U)

Take the UNDER 8.5 (-110). As noted above, the White Sox’s offense won’t be at full health for Friday’s season opener and it’ll be noticed in a tough matchup against Berrios.

Want some action on this game? Place a bet at BetMGM now. For more sports betting tips and advice, visit SportsbookWire.com.

Follow @EstenMcLaren on Twitter, and follow @SportsbookWire on Twitter and Facebook.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

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2020 American League Cy Young odds, picks and best bets

Previewing the American League Cy Young Award odds, with MLB betting odds, picks and best bets

Ordinarily, I avoid taking the low-return picks when you’re taking one player against the field, but the race for the 2020 American League Cy Young Award got interesting in a hurry with preseason injuries.

As a result, the options for picking the Cy Young winner have slimmed down with three weeks to go until the season’s first pitch.

As of 5 p.m. ET Sunday, March 8, BetMGM has 12 other pitchers with odds of less than +3000:

  • Gerrit Cole (+265)
  • Justin Verlander (+600)
  • Chris Sale (+650)
  • Mike Clevinger (+1000)
  • Blake Snell; Charlie Morton (+1100)
  • Shane Bieber (+1600)
  • Tyler Glasnow; Carlos Carrasco (+2000)
  • Lucas Giolito; Zach Grienke; Corey Kluber (+2500)

American League Cy Young: Breaking down the field

The field is going to shift like a pendulum with spring training injuries to Sale and Snell. Both are expected to miss significant time, which will likely take them out of the running.

And Sunday afternoon, the Astros pulled Verlander after two innings of a scheduled four-inning start due to triceps soreness. There is no word on whether Verlander could miss any time, but it’s yet another injury to keep an eye on.

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One thing that is crystal clear is that BetMGM has a lot of faith in the Tampa Bay starting rotation. Three of the top eight plays are Rays (Snell, Morton and Glasnow). I don’t share that opinion because they’re reaching on expectation for both Snell (injured) and Glasnow (unproven). The club is formidable, but that prevents the Rays from relying on one or two guys and occasionally pushing them up in the rotation when scheduled off days or rainouts bring an ace’s start time back up.

Clevinger and Bieber are another tandem that are intriguing, but the Indians may not provide the consistent run support needed to post the numbers that make a player stand out in the Cy Young race.

Astros ace Justin Verlander is off to a shaky start this spring. (Photo Credit: Troy Taormina – USA TODAY Sports)

Verlander remains a dominant pitcher and is coming off a 21-win, 300-strikeout year and was a whopping 7.8 games above replacement. But, at age 37, the wall for starting pitchers with his mileage numbers is getting closer (as evidenced by Sunday’s news).

But, if you’re betting on this race, you have to go with Cole, despite the small return on investment. He was a good in Pittsburgh but became elite when he went to Houston before the 2018 season. In two seasons with the Astros, Cole made 65 starts and posted a record of 35-10 with 602 strikeouts in 412 2/3 innings, a 0.962 WHIP and a 2.68 ERA. He now goes to the Yankees where he can expect a lot of run support every start and get the wins to match or surpass what he did with the Astros. New York has eyes on the Yankees 24/7 and he has the chance to be the big man in the Big Apple.

THE BET: Take Cole and don’t look back. If you’re looking for a long shot to drop a few bucks on, consider Minnesota’s Jose Berrios (+4000). He is the staff ace of a team capable of winning 100 games again this year. When he is on his game, he can be dominant. Consistency is all that’s missing and he will be playing from ahead. Don’t break the bank on him, but, at +4000, you don’t have to.

Want to get some action on MLB futures betting? Do you have what it takes to pick this season’s winners before the season even starts? Place legal sports bets online at BetMGM.

For more sports betting tips across all sports? Visit SportsbookWire.com.

Gannett may earn revenue from audience referrals to betting services.  Newsrooms are independent of this relationship and there is no influence on news coverage.

Follow @SportsbookWire.

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