The Boston Red Sox will be without another member of their starting rotation to begin the regular season. Right-hander Lucas Giolito will start the season on the injured list with a low-grade left hamstring strain, manager Alex Cora announced Thursday. Giolito exited Tuesday’s start with tightness in his hamstring and an MRI revealed the strain.
“We’re going to be tested right away,” Cora said about the team’s rotation depth (via the Boston Globe).
Even before Giolito’s injury, the Red Sox were slated to begin the season without fellow righties Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford. Bello is dealing with a shoulder issue and Crawford a knee problem that dates back to last season. Boston’s rotation depth chart currently looks something like this:
- LHP Garrett Crochet
- RHP Tanner Houck
- RHP Walker Buehler
RHP Brayan Bello(will miss start of season with sore shoulder)RHP Lucas Giolito(will miss start of season with hamstring strain)RHP Kutter Crawford(will miss start of season with knee soreness)LHP Patrick Sandoval(will miss most of 2025 following internal brace surgery)- RHP Quinn Priester
- RHP Richard Fitts
- RHP Josh Winckowski
The good news is Boston’s top three starters are all healthy. Crochet, Houck, and Buehler are the guys the Red Sox really need to stay on the field. The depth behind the top three has taken a big hit though. Priester has struggled to miss bats at the MLB level and Winckowski has been much more effective as a starter than as a reliever throughout his career.
Giolito, 30, missed the 2024 season after having the internal brace procedure, which is a Tommy John surgery alternative. The internal brace can only be used for certain partial tears and comes with a shorter recovery time. Tuesday’s start was Giolito’s first of the spring and came almost one year to the day of his surgery. He allowed two runs in an inning before exiting.
In 2023, his last healthy season, Giolito threw 184 ⅓ innings with a 4.88 ERA while bouncing from the Chicago White Sox to the Los Angeles Angels to the Cleveland Guardians. The Red Sox gave him a two-year, $38.5 million contract last winter. Not surprisingly, Giolito declined to use an opt out over the winter after missing last season with elbow surgery.
Just about every AL East team is dealing with major injuries this spring. The New York Yankees will be without Gerrit Cole (Tommy John surgery), Luis Gil (lat strain), and Giancarlo Stanton (elbows) to begin the season. The Baltimore Orioles won’t have Kyle Bradish (Tommy John surgery), Grayson Rodriguez (elbow), or Andrew Kittredge (knee). The AL East will be a war of attrition.
The Red Sox went 81-81 last year and then had a big offseason, one that netted Alex Bregman in addition to Crochet and Buehler.
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