The San Diego Padres will send Lucas Gioloto to the mound against Seattle today with high hopes for the right-hander.
The San Diego Padres will send recent free-agent signee Lucas Giolito to the mound against the Seattle Mariners today, and Giolito knows the drill when it comes to getting ready for this sort of thing. But this spring has been very different for the right-hander, and Giolito has had to make some significant adjustments.
“I’ve been doing this for a long time. Pitching in the big leagues, being in a rotation, that’s normal for me,” Giolito said in an article written by Josh Kirshenbaum of MLB.com. “What I was going through the last few months was more abnormal. I’m glad to be through that and back where I feel I belong.”
Giolito was on the market for a long time this offseason, and teams were wary because of the elbow issues that ended his season with the Boston Red Sox last year. He finally signed a one-year, 2.8 million deal with the Padres last month, and it’s basically a make-good deal in which he’s betting on himself.
The Padres are happy to make that bet right now, as they’ve been playing rotation roulette at with their back-end starters. They just put Matt Waldron on the IL to help make room for Giolito, and they’re hoping he can out-pitch the likes of Waldron and German Marquez, even with the shorter prep time.
“I definitely appreciate a true spring training,” Giolito said with a wry smile. “I hope I can have that next year.
“But at the same time, it was very productive. As soon as I signed the contract, I got into communication with the pitching staff side -- Ruben [Niebla] and everyone else -- we pinpointed some things to work on during my time in the Minor Leagues. I felt like it started a little rough, and then each start I got a little better, got more acclimated to game speed and rhythm and tempo, all those kinds of things. I feel ready to go tomorrow.”
Giolito will fill a big hole if he is ready, and the Padres know the 31-year old starter has had experience jumping into different rotations in his career.
“He’s been there, done that,” manager Craig Stammen said. “He knows what it’s like going through a full season. Pitching well in the big leagues, that’s the biggest attribute he brings. He knows how to get outs, get outs in the big leagues.”
For Giolito, this will be a new normal for him. He has the experience to get results, and he’s happy to leave his offseason of uncertainty behind.
“I’m just excited to be back out there and help a really good team win baseball games,” he said. “It was kind of a surreal offseason, leaking into Spring Training and the season. But I’m really appreciative of the Padres giving me the opportunity.”