Red Sox' Lucas Giolito to get second opinion on elbow; 'surgery is a possibility'
Lucas Giolito will travel to Alabama on Monday to seek a second opinion on his right elbow from Dr. Jeffrey Dugas, skipper Alex Cora told reporters, including The Boston Globe’s Julian McWilliams on Wednesday.
The Red Sox announced on Tuesday that Giolito was experiencing elbow sorenesss and the injury could cost him the 2024 season. Jeff Passan reported that Giolito has a partial tear in his UCL.
“Surgery is a possibility,” Cora said. “We’ll have more when he goes over there.”
The 29-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012 but beyond that has been durable his entire career. He pitched in 30-plus starts each of the last three seasons including 33 last season, which led the majors.
The Red Sox only major free agent acquisition this offseason made two Grapefruit League starts this spring. His last start came on Friday where he allowed four earned runs off two hits while allowing three walks and struck out one batter over 2 1/3 innings.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow mentioned that Cooper Criswell is an internal candidate for the rotation. Josh Winckowski, Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck also remain in the mix for a spot in the rotation this season.
Criswell pitched on Wednesday and tossed two good frames, setting down the first six batters. He ran into trouble in the third inning, giving up three earned runs on three hits. Twins’ Edouard Julien crushed a two-run blast off Criswell. The righty last 2 2/3 innings tossing 48 pitches in the 7-1 loss to the Twins.
Breslow mentioned that Boston could utilize a six-man rotation to open the season.
“We know at one point on that 13-game stretch [to start the season] we have to be creative somehow, some way,” said Cora in response to Breslow’s remark. “So we’ll keep talking about it and then we’ll see. Obviously, multi-inning relievers are going to be very important. They were important two days ago. They’re more important now, especially with that fifth spot in the rotation. We still have a few weeks to decide where we are going, but I do believe in roles like Whitlock [as a multi-inning reliever] a few years ago, and Kutter Crawford [as one] earlier last year. They’re huge for what we’re trying to accomplish.”
All signs are pointing to Giolito needing season ending surgery. Once that is announced, the Red Sox should place him on the 60-day IL, opening a 40-man roster spot.
