Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito to begin 2025 season on IL
The Boston Red Sox will be down another starting pitcher to start the 2025 season. Manager Alex Cora announced Thursday that Lucas Giolito will begin the year on the injured list.
Giolito made his spring debut for Boston on Tuesday, but felt tightness in his left hamstring after just one pitch. He underwent an MRI on Wednesday, which revealed a low-grade hamstring strain.
The right-hander has yet to throw a pitch in the regular season for Boston, after he signed a two-year, $38.5 million deal with the team last offseason. Giolito missed the entire 2024 season after he suffered a partial tear in his right UCL last spring.
Red Sox rotation
The Red Sox will start the season with 33 games in 36 days, which prompted some talk of a potential six-man rotation early in spring training. But now, half of those potential arms are out of the mix.
In addition to Giolito, Brayan Bello (right shoulder inflammation) and Kutter Crawford (sore left knee) will also begin the 2025 season on the injured list.
"We're going to be tested right away," Cora told reporters Thursday in Fort Myers, Florida.
As for who will be starting games for the Red Sox, Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, and Walker Buehler are the only sure things in the rotation to begin the year. Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, and Cooper Criswell are options for the final two spots in the rotation.
It's not a great situation for Cora and the Red Sox with Opening Day two weeks away, but it's what the team is now trying to navigate. Boston will open the regular season on March 27 against the Rangers in Texas.
