White Sox confident Lucas Giolito resolved issue from Boston massacre

White Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito’s week of self-scouting and changeup refinement has been fruitful, according to witnesses to the process.

‘‘Very productive work,’’ manager Tony La Russa said before the Sox’ game Saturday against the Rangers. ‘‘I saw his [bullpen] session [Friday]. He was right on time.’’

Coming off the shortest start of his career Monday in Boston, Giolito originially was scheduled to take the mound for the series finale Sunday. La Russa, however, said right-hander Michael Kopech would make that start, pushing Giolito back another couple of days to the opener of the three-game series Tuesday against the Tigers.

Stunned by the way the Red Sox bashed his signature changeup in a 46-pitch first inning, Giolito huddled with the Sox’ coaching staff and video crew to see whether he might have been tipping anything.

La Russa sounded convinced the issue was solved.

‘‘These guys are really sharp,’’ La Russa said. ‘‘I’m very confident.’’

When it comes to what La Russa called ‘‘the tipping thing,’’ he noted ‘‘a lot of people [are] working on it to correct stuff like that.’’

The seven earned runs against the Red Sox were the most Giolito had allowed since the 2020 season opener last July.

Giolito failed to record a strikeout only two other times in his 88 career starts: May 24, 2018, against the Orioles, when he got only four outs; and July 24, 2016, against the Padres (3⅓ innings), when he was making his third career outing for the Nationals.

‘‘Talking to Gio, almost as soon as the outing was over, he was able to recognize a couple of things that didn’t quite go his way that he’s used to having,’’ Sox closer Liam Hendriks said. ‘‘He reached out to the team and figured out what was different. He reached out to [the video crew] to see if there was anything different there. He was able to rectify a couple of things.’’

Disappointed with the location and action of his changeup against the Red Sox, Giolito was determined to make the necessary mechanical tweaks during his between-starts session with pitching coach Ethan Katz and bullpen coach Curt Hasler.

‘‘He threw a bullpen the other day and is feeling great now,’’ Hendriks said. ‘‘It’s just that little sometimes tinkering thing, especially with a pitch like the changeup, that can really get you in trouble.’’

Even one extra day of rest has proved problematic for Giolito. On five days of rest, he is 10-13 with a 4.93 ERA in 30 career starts. When working on the usual four days of rest, he is 17-11 with a 3.82 ERA in 39 career starts.

Giolito’s strikeout-to-walk ratio is 3.16 with an additional day of rest and 2.29 on normal rest.

Hendriks, who broke in as a starter with the Twins a decade ago, knows all too well what can happen when hitters can subtract a certain pitch from the equation.

‘‘It was the same way with me when I would all of a sudden lose my slider and my fastball wasn’t on that day,’’ Hendriks said. ‘‘It’s very tough to pitch when your go-to pitch isn’t there, and that was what unfortunately happened to [Giolito] in Boston.’’

Whenever Giolito takes the mound again, his teammates are expecting an inspired performance.

‘‘We have no doubts about him,’’ Hendriks said. ‘‘He’ll probably give us seven or eight [innings] next time and be good to go.’’