Fix this: White Sox are 1-5 when Lucas Giolito starts

Lucas Giolito

It's probably too early to look at the AL Central standings, but let's look at them anyway. After all, the next 13 games for the White Sox are against two division rivals -- the Kansas City Royals and the Minnesota Twins.

Here's how the division stacks up entering Friday's action:

1. Cleveland 17-13
2. White Sox 16-13
3. Kansas City 16-14
4. Minnesota 11-19
5. Detroit 9-23

There are two surprises here. First, the Royals are playing better than .500 baseball. Sure, they just got swept four straight at home by Cleveland, so they might be coming back to reality. But it's been a good start for Kansas City. The Sox will be on the road this weekend against the Royals, and they can't expect to win this series easily. This isn't the same Royals team the Sox went 9-1 against in 2020.

Second, the defending AL Central champion Twins are playing bad. Real bad. In the past, the cure for whatever ails Minnesota has been games against the Sox. Can the Sox keep the Twins on the skids when they play them in Chicago next week? We shall see, but first things first.

Here are the pitching matchups for this weekend in Kansas City:

• Friday: Carlos Rodon (4-0, 0.72 ERA) vs. Brad Keller (2-3, 8.06 ERA)
• Saturday: Lance Lynn (2-1, 1.82 ERA) vs. Daniel Lynch (0-0, 5.79 ERA)
• Sunday: Lucas Giolito (1-3, 4.99 ERA) vs. Mike Minor (2-1, 5.23 ERA)

What am I watching for in this series? I'm wondering whether the Sox can win a game with Lucas Giolito on the mound. The ace of the staff has made six starts this season, and in those games, the Sox are 1-5.

Some of Giolito's woes are self-inflicted. He had a real clunker against the Boston Red Sox on April 19. However, he could also sue his teammates for non-support. The Sox have scored only 19 runs in those six games, and 10 of them were in one game. So, in Giolito's other five starts, the Sox have provided only nine runs of support.

In two of Giolito's starts -- both against Cleveland -- the Sox gave him no runs whatsoever. In one of those games, he managed to keep the Indians off the board and got a no-decision in an eventual loss. In the other, he gave up one earned run and lost. Basically, he forgot to throw a shutout, or give up negative runs.

That's one thing that has to change if the Sox are going to stay in the division race and potentially win it this year: They need to win consistently on Giolito's day to pitch. Let's see if this trend reverses on Sunday.