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Washington Nationals' prospect Lucas Giolito, 21, started the 2015 campaign at High-A Potomac in the Nats' system, putting up a 2.71 ERA, a 1.96 FIP, 20 walks (2.58 BB/9) and 86 Ks (11.11 K/9) in 69 ⅔ innings pitched.
The 2012 first-round pick moved up to Double-A Harrisburg and finished the season there, putting up a 3.80 ERA, a 3.18 FIP, 17 walks (3.23 BB/9) and 45 Ks (8.56 K/9) in 47 ⅓ innings.
"I feel that it was a pretty good season," Giolito said in an interview posted recently on MLB.com.
"I learned a lot about myself as a pitcher. The numbers were okay, in my opinion.
"They could have been better and that's something I'm going to strive to do is always make my numbers better and become a better pitcher. Especially on the mental side last year, I felt like I made a lot of progress."
Nationals' GM Mike Rizzo told reporters at Nats WinterFest in December that Giolito's 2016 campaign with begin with the right-hander reporting to major league Spring Training for the first time.
"He's going to come to the major league camp and be in his first major league Spring Training," Rizzo said.
"We're going to, obviously, be caretaker to his workload and his innings and we expect big things from Lucas Giolito not only in 2016 but down the road also."
Stephen Strasburg said he was looking forward to getting a look at the Nationals' top prospect when he was informed that the right-hander will be in big league camp.
"Oh, cool," Strasburg said. "I haven't seen him pitch live. I've seen some stuff in the past. My dad comes out to Spring Training and his dad is usually there, so my dad likes going to the minor league side and talking with his dad and stuff, but met him a few times, he seems like a really good kid and excited to see where he's at."
Giolito said he was looking forward to getting an opportunity to pick other pitchers' brains.
He has, he explained, talked to some of them previously about the process of rehabbing from Tommy John surgery.
Will Lucas Giolito debut in the majors in 2016?
Photo © David Kohl/USA TODAY Sports
"I had a chance to talk with Stephen a few times about some of the aches and pains you feel coming back earlier on in my rehab process," he said. "So that's always been a good resource.
"I'm really looking forward to talking with Max Scherzer. The stuff he was able to do last year is pretty amazing. And I just want to see how he goes about his business, kind of just like take a backseat and look at this is how these guys do it at that level and how they're so successful and last 180-plus innings a year and that's the kind of pitcher I want to be. I want to kind of be that workhorse in the future and there's a lot to learn so there's a lot of good guys up there that I can learn from."