Lucas Giolito will toughen competition in Washington Nationals for pitching job - MLB Update
A club which is already overcrowded with quality pitchers can easily find Lucas Giolito, 16th overall first round draft pick by the Washington Nationals, as a cause of toughening competition in the club-house.
Although, it is a long way to go for Giolito, the kind of prodigy he is being touted with and his three figure fastballs testify his credential to make to the Majors earlier than expected.
With this, trim-down in the rotation and survival of only top-notch pitchers will occur. He, along with Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez can easily become a threat for under-performing pitchers like Jordan Zimmermann and Edwin Jackson.
Even at the Minor League level, he spells a challenge for the existing players.
Both manager and General Manager, Davey Johnson and Mike Rizzo respectively, are conquered by his heroic credentials. He belongs to a pedigree of pitchers who spend hardly a year in the Minor League before jumping to the Majors and fetching spotlight from
all-around.
Just the way Strasburg became spearhead as soon as he made the Major League Debut and stole the light from other pitchers, Giolito may be heading to the same eventuality.
However, occasional issues with his strained right elbow can inhibit him down the line and just like what happen with some pitchers, he can also suffer lengthy outages from the season. On this, Giolito clarified that consultation with doctors has been made
and that he faces no serious issues at the moment.
“I’ve had some of the best doctors around treat me,” Giolito said. “I’m feeling really good. I’m confident this issue is behind me.”
For some reasons if Giolito’s entry into a professional baseball is delayed, he is happier to be playing for University of California, Los Angeles. He will take decision based on how the events pan out in the days to come. Money is going to be the main determinant
during negotiations with the Nationals.
“Well, I’ve always wanted to play pro ball,” said Giolito. “But obviously I picked UCLA for a reason. It’s one of the best baseball programs in all of college sports. … UCLA is a really big option for me, and we’ll see how everything plays out.”
Penchant for having Giolito in the organization that GM has shown suggests the kind of role he fancies from him, to be playing for the Nationals in the years to come. How far Giolito can live up to the potential will determine his success as a pitcher.
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