The Boston Red Sox have struggled to a 12-11 record to open the 2025 season, despite a lot of changes over the winter.
The Red Sox pulled off a blockbuster trade to add southpaw Garrett Crochet to the rotation and he’s lived up to expectations. But the rest of the pitching staff should take a significant part of the blame for the team’s struggles.
Tanner Houck and Walker Buehler, two of the only other starters who have opened the year able to pitch, each have ERAs over 5.00 so far. Meanwhile, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Richard Fitts are all on the injured list.
And, after signing a two-year, $38.5 million contract with the Red Sox in 2023, veteran starter Lucas Giolito has yet to start a game for the Red Sox. But just before the team began its Patriots Day’ matchup against the Chicago White Sox, Rob Bradford of WEEI provided a short update from Giolito that could mean big things for the team.
“I feel ready to go,” Giolito said, per Bradford.
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Giolito was coming off of his latest rehab start, striking out four batters across fiving innings with Double-A Portland. He has been unable to take a major-league mound since 2023, when he made 33 total starts for three different American League teams.
Giolito has a career 4.43 ERA in eight major-league seasons, with an All-Star nod in 2019 and Cy Young Award votes in 2019, 2020 and 2021. A healthy return in the near future could offer a major boost to the Red Sox, who have had trouble putting together quality starts outside of Crochet.
Last week, manager Alex Cora said Giolito would be able to join the team “sooner rather than later,” but has been unable to pinpoint a specific timeline for a return. Hopefully, Giolito’s positive update ahead of the Patriots’ Day game translates into a healthy return in the near future.
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