Lucas Giolito expects to 'be ready for a full spring training'
Lucas Giolito is going to be ready for spring training and a full regular season. The righty-hander made that proclamation on the “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast this week.
Giolito has seen all the graphics on social media stating just the opposite, and the righty has no idea where the information is coming from.
"I’m here. I’m in Fort Myers. Obviously, continuing the rehab progression, which is, at this point, coming out of the rehab progression. Throwing off the mound soon. Me and Garrett (Whitlock). We’re on the same program. Yeah, I’m going to be ready for a full spring training and a full season," Giolito said.
"I find it funny when I see this stuff online saying that I will be coming back in June. I don’t know where that came from. I have no idea. I asked a lot of people. No one really knows. At this point, it’s like, ‘Alright, cool. That’s fine. Whatever people want to think.’ Everything is going great. I look forward to a full year."
There’s a possibility that fans and some content aggregators were making assumptions that Giolito wouldn’t have been ready to begin the spring based off the Red Sox offseason approach to adding starting pitching. Boston acquired Garrett Crochet from the White Sox at the Winter Meetings and signed Walker Buehler and Patrick Sandoval. In addition, the Red Sox have rotational depth with Tanner Houck, Kutter Crawford, Brayan Bello, Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, and even Hunter Dobbins to pitch out of the rotation this coming season.
Giolito missed all of last season after undergoing internal brace surgery on the UCL in his pitching arm. After rehabbing in Boston and pitching down in Fort Myers, he’s excited to get back on the mound and help his teammates win.
"We’ve added pieces. We’ve added pieces to the rotation. The young guys are doing great. If I’m in a position where I need to compete for a rotation spot, I’m ready to do so. That’s not something I have had to do for a few years. I have been very lucky," Giolito said. "But considering the talent that we have in the rotation, if I’m competing for the fifth spot or the sixth spot or however they want to do it, alright, great. But I will be ready for that. So all the noise online is pretty funny. It doesn’t make a difference at the end of the day. Once we all get out to spring training, we’re all working toward the same goal."
Giolito has been a full-go in his rehab, and his pitching program takes him into the break of camp.
"The throwing program, the progression, puts me right there for spring training and all of that. Build up during spring. Usually guys in this day and age, you’re not coming out and throwing eight or nine innings the first turn through the rotation, but it’s that five or six, and it’s kind of that gradual build-up. We’ll see how it plays out."
