Lucas Giolito will make his spring training debut in the Boston Red Sox’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays on Thursday, MLB.com’s Ian Browne reported Sunday morning.
The last time Giolito took the mound in a game was on March 1, 2024. He wound up undergoing an internal brace procedure to repair a partial UCL tear in his right elbow 11 days later, missing the entire regular season as a result.
Giolito inked a two-year, $37 million contract with the Red Sox in January 2024. He tossed 2.0 scoreless innings in his first Grapefruit League appearance that February, only to give up four runs in 2.1 innings in his final outing pre-surgery.
The right-hander was coming off a shaky second half of 2023 before he landed in Boston. He made 12 starts with the Los Angeles Angels and Cleveland Guardians after getting traded away by the Chicago White Sox at the deadline, going 2-9 with a 6.96 ERA, 1.484 WHIP, 10.4 strikeouts per nine innings and a -1.1 WAR.
Between 2019 and 2023, Giolito went 46-36 with a 3.85 ERA, 1.183 WHIP, 10.6 strikeouts per nine innings and a 13.9 WAR in a White Sox uniform. He was named an All-Star in 2019, placing sixth in AL Cy Young voting that year before finishing seventh and 11th in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
The 30-year-old is poised to open 2025 in Boston’s starting rotation, which could be without Kutter Crawford in the early goings. Patrick Sandoval is also expected to miss the first half of the season, while Garrett Whitlock has been moved to the bullpen following elbow surgery of his own.
Still, the Red Sox still have five dependable starters lined up in Giolito, Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello and Walker Buehler as they look to end a three-year playoff drought in 2025.
First pitch between Boston and Toronto on Thursday is scheduled for 1:07 p.m. ET from Dunedin, Florida.
