Red Sox righty Lucas Giolito is dealing with an elbow issue and won’t be included on Boston’s roster for their Wild Card Series showdown with the archrival Yankees, manager Alex Cora told reporters at today’s media session (link via Christopher Smith of MassLive.com). Cora did not provide a specific diagnosis or tip his hand as to whether Giolito would be available in subsequent rounds, should the Red Sox advance. Giolito would’ve been Boston’s starter for a potential Game 3 of the series. He’ll see a specialist today, MassLive’s Sean McAdam adds.
Giolito, 31, missed the entire 2024 season due to UCL surgery but returned with a flourish in 2025, firing 145 frames of 3.41 ERA ball. That number is inflated a bit by a poor start to the season; from June 10 onward, he made 19 starts with a 2.51 ERA. Giolito’s 19.7% strikeout rate and 9.1% walk rate contributed to more tepid evaluations from metrics like FIP (4.17) and SIERA (4.66), but his bottom-line results were unequivocally strong, even if their sustainability merited some skepticism.
Upon reaching 140 innings pitched this season, Giolito triggered a vesting clause in his $14MM club option that converted it into a $19MM mutual option. When he reached that threshold, it appeared all but certain that the right-hander would turn down his end of the mutual option and reenter the market. Suddenly, the health of his elbow clouds that decision. If the issue is serious, the Red Sox will surely decline their end and send Giolito into free agency anyhow, but he’ll return to the open market under very different circumstances than seemed likely even one week ago.
Giolito did experience a velocity drop of some note in September. After averaging 93.4 mph on his heater through the season’s first five months, he averaged 92.5 mph on his four-seamer over his final five appearances — including a season-low 92.1 mph in his final appearance. He still posted a 3.16 ERA over 25 2/3 innings in those outings, but he also issued 18 walks. At first glance, that could’ve been chalked up to fatigue for a pitcher who didn’t throw a single inning in ’24 but was pushing up toward 150 frames in the stretch run — but word of a possible elbow injury now makes that late slide all the more concerning.
The Red Sox figure to have more information on Giolito’s status later in the week, once he’s met with that specialist and discussed any findings with team brass. That’ll determine his availability — or lack thereof — for potential appearances in the ALDS, ALCS or World Series, depending how far Boston progresses in the postseason. For the series at hand, the elbow trouble for Giolito likely thrusts one of the team’s promising young lefties, like Connelly Early or Kyle Harrison, into that Game 3 start. Top prospect Payton Tolle was moved to the bullpen in early September and hasn’t pitched more than three innings in an outing since Sept. 29 as a result, so he’s not likely to get the nod.