Red Sox Notes: Lucas Giolito is back, Devers and Bello delayed, lineup vs. Phillies
Lucas Giolito will make his first appearance of the spring on Tuesday when the Red Sox welcome the Phillies at JetBlue Park.
The 30-year-old hurler hasn’t pitched on the mound since last spring after undergoing season-ending internal brace surgery on his pitching elbow.
“I feel like I’m on a very good trajectory for (Opening Day), for sure,” Giolito said last week to reporters, including MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “I’ve been doing this for quite some time, so I’m not the kind of guy that needs like a million spring training starts to be ready for a season. For me, it’s all about just progressing at the correct pace. I trust all the guys in that room over there on the medical side. They’ve been leading me in the right direction.”
A healthy Giolito comes at a good time, where the Sox are down two starters from last year’s rotation.
Brayan Bello is IL-bound
Brayan Bello is also going to start the regular season on the injured list with right shoulder soreness. He felt the issue arise after throwing in the first week of camp, resulting in the team shutting him down.
“We talked to Brayan. He’s behind,” Alex Cora said on Tuesday morning. “He’s not going to be with us for Opening Day. It just doesn’t make sense, where he’s at, to push him and rush everything where something major happens. He’s throwing a live BP (Wednesday), and he’s going to be part of it, but he’s behind, so we’ll take care of him.”
Cora was expecting Bello to be ready and able to pitch before the Sox were to leave for Mexico on March 23. He’s thrown bullpens but hasn’t progressed to the point where he’s thrown consecutive live batting practices.
“I believe he will, towards the end,” said Cora, with the team thinking that Bello will make a start for Triple-A Worcester before coming off the injured list.
Kutter Crawford is ‘not doing much’
Kutter Crawford is feeling better but hasn’t progressed with baseball activities. He’s been sidelined with a knee injury that dates back to last season.
Cora described Crawford as “not doing much (physically). I had a conversation with him, but we’re not there progression-wise.
Options for the back end of the rotation
With Bello and Crawford down, it opens the door for Richard Fitts or Quinn Priester to break camp as the fifth starter. Right-handers Michael Fulmer and Cooper Criswell are also options but are likely ticketed for Worcester’s rotation rather than Boston’s.
“That’s the good thing about where we’re at,” said Cora. “We’ve got guys who can come up and help us. They can do the job. We’re not worried about that. They’re all equal right now. At one point, we’ll make a decision based on their performance and stuff.”
Priester has had a good spring and is a legitimate candidate to win a spot in the rotation. This spring he’s 1-0 with a 2.70 ERA with five strikeouts in three starts spread over 6 2/3 innings.
The right-hander has been impressive in camp, opening the eyes of his manager, Alex Cora, and others on the Sox’ staff, including WooSox pitching coach Dan DeLucia.
“He wants to be part of a winning culture,” said Dan DeLucia on the “To the Show” Baseball Podcast. “He wants to be part of a winning team. And he himself wants to be the best version of himself. I'd say he's along the line sometimes as like a perfectionist, but not in a good way. And he's passionate, man. When he feels something, when he has something in his head, he just wants to get it out and talk through it.”
The ball has looked good coming out of Fitts’ hand this spring, hitting 100 mph two outings ago. The right-hander who made four starts at the end of last season has turned heads this spring. His velocity has improved; his breaking ball has been playing well off his heater, including his new curveball that the club had him work on over the winter.
Fitts having swing-and-miss stuff will be crucial for him to stick at the big league level early on in his career.
“I used to just attack guys with fastballs, and I loved it, but it may not have been the best idea,” said Fitts. “I’m moving up in the ranks, and I’m at the point now where I feel like I can have multiple plus pitches instead of just one. It’s really encouraging.”
Rafael Devers Grapefruit League delayed
Rafael Devers has yet to see any game action with a little under three weeks until Boston plays the Texas Rangers in Arlington to open the regular season.
Devers was set to make his spring debut either Tuesday or Wednesday but will now be pushed back until this weekend. The team will have their slugger face Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler on the backfields before eventually debuting on Saturday against the Braves.
“It will be great [to see him play]," Alex Cora told reporters this past weekend. "He needs the reps on the field, but [he needs to] understand what he is working on. Obviously, [we are talking about] the shoulder. We have to be patient. The goal for him is to be ready for Texas [on Opening Day].”
One more camp cut
The Red Sox announced they’ve optioned right-handed pitcher Hunter Dobbins to minor league camp.
Dobbins entered camp as a non-roster invite coming off a strong 2024 season where he went 8-5 with a 3.08 in 25 starts, striking out 120 batters across two levels of the Sox system, and earned Red Sox Minor League Pitcher of the Year.
The Texas Tech alum will be part of the WooSox rotation with Cooper Criswell, Michael Fulmer, Priester, and Fitts when they return after Bello comes off the injured list.
Red Sox lineup vs. Phillies
Jarren Duran LF
Alex Bregman 3B
Triston Casas 1B
Connor Wong C
Masataka Yoshida DH
Kristian Campbell 2B
Marcelo Mayer SS
Ceddanne Rafaela CF
Trayce Thompson RF
SP: Lucas Giolito / Grapefruit League debut
The first pitch is at 1:05 p.m., and the game can be heard on WEEI 850.
