Lucas Giolito described it as a “random, freak, weird thing.”

“Doesn’t happen to baseball players very often,” the Chicago White Sox right-hander said Saturday morning.

Giolito left Friday’s opening-day start against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park after the fourth inning because of abdominal tightness on his left side. Manager Tony La Russa said an optimistic timeline would mean Giolito misses two starts.

“The way it was described to me is it’s a low abdominal strain,” La Russa said Saturday. “He came in (Saturday) less sore. If it’s more severe, then you’re thinking longer. Optimistically, maybe a couple of starts. We’re going to miss him.”

Giolito, starting opening day for the third year in a row, said he felt a small tweak during the fourth inning.

“We get random little aches and pains while we’re throwing that you kind of just disregard, so I immediately disregarded it,” Giolito said. “The next pitch, same. Next pitch, same. Just didn’t want to go away, so I had to go and say something.”

He said he felt “pretty good” Saturday.

“Not really noticing too much soreness or anything like that,” Giolito said. “It’s a good sign for hopefully a quick recovery.”

Giolito said he’s never dealt with anything like this before, calling it “super random, unfortunate.”

Giolito allowed one hit, struck out six and walked two in four scoreless innings. He exited after throwing 61 pitches.

“Thought it was going very well,” Giolito said. “Cold weather, for me, I was really trying to focus on just making good competitive pitches as opposed to trying to out-stuff. The sequencing was great working with (catcher Yasmani Grandal). He did such a nice job back there. I felt we were mixing very well, I had all four pitches working.

“So really unfortunate because I really wanted to kick off this year (well), opening day, kind of set the tone. I feel that we were doing that. But it’s just another challenge for us to get through. But I’m very optimistic that this won’t affect my season too much and I’ll be able to get the ball and help the team win games again soon.”

Giolito’s setback is the second for a member of the team’s starting rotation.

Right-hander Lance Lynn, who finished third in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2021, could miss the first eight weeks of the season after he underwent right knee surgery to repair a torn tendon. Lynn sustained the injury April 2 during a Cactus League outing against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

“Injuries can be very strange,” Giolito said. “I don’t necessarily think a shorter spring (because of the lockout) is what caused this or what caused Lance’s injury. Very just freak, random kind of stuff that can happen.

“I didn’t think I’d ever be dealing with such a strange injury. But here we are. So now the focus is just 100% focused attention to detail when it comes to this rehab stuff and try to get back out there soon.”

Asked about the rotation options without Lynn and Giolito, La Russa said he is “just thinking about who’s going to pitch after (Dylan) Cease (Saturday) and pitch after (Michael) Kopech (Sunday).”

Vince Velasquez will start Tuesday’s home opener against the Seattle Mariners, La Russa said.

“You know there’s a spot in the rotation that has to be filled,” La Russa said. “But there are games before that spot comes up. You take the immediacy first.”

Giolito added: “Something like this, it’s like the worst because I worked so hard this offseason and told you guys I want to be healthy all year. But that’s the way the game goes sometimes.

“I know the guys in the clubhouse are going to pick me up 100% and then I’ll be back out there soon to get my work back in and help this team.”

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