Before watching the video on Lucas Giolito, I looked at his vitals. This is something I don’t usually do. Doesn’t really matter to me if a guy is six-foot-one or five-ten. But, dizzamn, Giolito is a strapping young man, huh? He’s listed at six-six and 230. He’s only 21 years old, but I think he’s done growing. Hopefully, cause his mom tells CBS Sports that his “feet already hang off the bed.” With a six-six frame, as you can imagine, he throws fast. (Christall Young is the exception that proves the rule, which never made any sense to me. If it’s an exception, how does it prove anything? It proves that there’s exceptions, but that’s about it, right? I’m gonna move on before my brain hurts in my thought-nodes.) Giolito hits 97 MPH on his fastball, which is actually up a tick from the previous year. If he keeps steadily increasing his fastball every year, by the time he’s 40 years old, he’s going to be throwing 117 MPH. He throws from nearly right over the top, so the ball fires downhill and hitters have about no chance of hitting it. A 9+ K/9 seems to be a given once he gets settled in the majors. With speed comes no control, to sound like a drunk Yoda. Or does it?! Snap, reversed on that. No, Giolito has control too. 97 MPH with command? I’ll say it for you, hummna-hummna. Oh, and his strikeout pitch is his hard breaking curve. In 20 years, Al Pacino could be playing the role of a Hall of Fame pitcher in the film, Giolito’s Way. Assuming Pacino has eighteen-inch stilettos. Anyway, what can we expect from Lucas Giolito for 2016 fantasy baseball?
It kinda comes down to when the Nats plan on promoting him. I am not alone when I say Giolito is about as can’t miss as they come. Likely a future All-Star with Cy Young awards for him to place on a very high shelf that only he can reach. He will be the best arm to be promoted this year. I’m working a bit without a safety net on when will he be promoted. Comes down to what the Nats do at the Winter Meetings, and how committed they are to Tanner Roark as a starter. I’d say they should be committed if Roark isn’t in the rotation to start the year, but rarely do five-man rotations make it the whole way without at least one injury to someone. Double that sentiment when considering Dusty Baker is the new Nats manager. Gio Gonzalez might be asked to throw 140 pitches on any given day, or a given day right after he just threw 120 pitches. That’s Dusty doing Dusty. Everywhere I look it has Giolito arriving by mid-2016. I’ll say the same since going out on a limb by one’s self gets lonely. For 2016, I’ll give him the line of 4-6/3.62/1.21/82 in 80 IP. That could go anywhere from a 2.75 ERA in 140 IP to 1.50 ERA in 25 IP, so there’s a huge variance here to what will happen and what might happen (as with most rookies). If he even sniffs the rotation in the spring, I’ll be adding him immediately in all leagues. He could be special, and TMZ spotted Pacino shopping for eighteen-inch stilettos, so that could be a good sign.
