Red Sox’ Lucas Giolito to undergo surgery, procedure to be completed on Tuesday
It was feared that Red Sox right-handed starter Lucas Giolito was going to need right elbow surgery and those fears are coming true.
After making one Grapefruit League start for the Red Sox, he began to experience right elbow soreness. The Red Sox announced the injury last week and that he was going to see a specialist on Monday. Giolito met with Dr. Jeffrey Dugas at Andrews Sports Medicine in Birmingham, AL after being diagnosed with a partial tear of his UCL and flexor strain.
The 29-year-old will undergo surgery on Tuesday and at that time the doctors will evaluate the extent of the ligament damage in his arm.
There are options available to Giolito, he could go with internal brace surgery, similar to shortstop Trevor Story, which could have him ready in time for the start of the 2025 season. The other option is Tommy John surgery which could put next season in jeopardy.
“We’ll know more when they go in,” Alex Cora told reporters on Monday. “The type of surgery, we don’t know.”
Boston signed Giolito to a two-year, $38.5 million deal in January and he was expected to be atop the rotation. Instead he will miss the entire season and not contribute to the rotation.
With Giolito down, the Red Sox are thin on pitching options. Jordan Montgomery and Blake Snell are still available but both seem unlikely unless the Red Sox can get one of them at a good price. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has been outspoken on being comfortable with his internal options.
“Over the last couple of weeks, I do think it’s become evident that there are a number of guys that we have in camp that appear ready to take a step forward,” Breslow said.
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“And I think that’s a credit to the work that they’ve done and a credit to the pitching infrastructure and the work that Andrew (Bailey) has done. We’ve also maintained that if there was an opportunity to improve the team through some external acquisition that we needed to be responsible and try to track that down as well,” added Breslow.
Brayan Bello, Nick Pivetta and Kutter Crawford are penciled in for the top three spots of rotation. Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, Josh Winckowksi and Cooper Criswell are battling for the final two spots.
