Chicago White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito is a reminder why fantasy managers should never say never. In Giolito's case, the word "never" made sense in describing future interest in the former Nationals prospect after he walked 90 hitters and compiled a 6.13 ERA in 2018, ruining myriad fantasy rosters. A month into this season and things did not look much better with a 5.30 ERA -- and then an injured list stint intervened. Few seemed to care.
Things look better now -- much better. Last week, Giolito shut out the mighty Astros in their place, striking out nine. On Tuesday, Giolito permitted a three-run Alex Gordon blast in the first inning. After that, however, it was an impressive performance as he completed eight innings and 10 strikeouts. Giolito is 7-1 with a 2.85 ERA (only five earned runs allowed in his past five outings) and 69 strikeouts over 60 innings. It is all happening, indeed, and Giolito remains available in way too many ESPN standard leagues.
Welcome to the latest free-agent report, as we go position-by-position to find relevant fantasy options for you to pick up. Yes, we are moving this weekly blog entry up a day this week. Useful players who are eligible at multiple spots will get mentioned in the spot where it's best to utilize them, if possible -- but having options is great. Feel free to share your thoughts (as if you need prompting) with me on Twitter.