Lucas Giolito probably out for the 2024 season

[jeskola]

Sources: Red Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (elbow) might miss season - ESPN

Sources: Red Sox RHP Lucas Giolito (elbow) might miss season

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Initial imaging showed damage in the right elbow of Boston Red Sox starter Lucas Giolito that could cause him to miss the 2024 season, league sources told ESPN.

Giolito, who was expected to be the Red Sox's Opening Day starter, has a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament and flexor strain that could require surgery that would likely keep him out for the entirety of 2024, according to sources.

Giolito, 29, was one of just three free agent signings by the Red Sox over the winter, alongside reliever Liam Hendriks -- who is expected to miss most, if not all, of 2024 after undergoing Tommy John surgery -- and right-hander Cooper Criswell. While Red Sox chairman Tom Werner had suggested at the outset of the winter that the team would take a "full throttle" approach to free agency, Giolito's two-year, $38.5 million contract represented more than three-quarters of their $49.5 million outlay, which ranks 13th in Major League Baseball.

Coming off their third last-place finish in four seasons, the Red Sox enter 2024 with a rotation that's now in flux. Boston traded left-hander Chris Sale in the offseason and replaced him with Giolito, a veteran whose ability to consistently provide innings was seen as a necessity for a rotation without other established starters.

Giolito underwent Tommy John surgery in 2012, about two months after the Washington Nationals selected him with the 16th pick in the draft. It's unclear whether he would need the full reconstruction Tommy John surgery provides or whether the partial tear would allow him to undergo an internal brace procedure that has a shorter recovery timeline. Regardless, a combined repair of the UCL and the flexor -- a mass of muscles in the forearm that serves to dampen the stress on the elbow ligament -- would necessitate a recovery of well over six months. Giolito could try to rehabilitate the injury, but if that approach fails, it could jeopardize his 2025 season as well.

How Boston pivots, following a winter that caused consternation among its fan base, will be indicative of how invested ownership is in this year's team.

Boston's monthslong dalliance with free agent left-hander Jordan Montgomery has remained at a standstill, as Montgomery seeks a long-term deal the Red Sox have not been willing to give. National League Cy Young winner Blake Snell remains a free agent as well.

Should the Red Sox prefer not to dabble in the $20 million-a-year range, the top starter options include right-handers Michael Lorenzen and Mike Clevinger. Other free agent starters include right-handers Zack Greinke, Noah Syndergaard, Johnny Cueto, Jake Odorizzi and Domingo German, and left-handers Eric Lauer and Rich Hill.

Giolito started 33 games among three teams last season, posting a 4.88 ERA and striking out 204 in 184⅓ innings. In his eight-year career, he is 59-52 with a 4.43 ERA and 1,077 strikeouts against 385 walks in 1,013⅔ innings.

 

[DMVol]

Have to wonder if he was damaged goods when we made the trade…

[Dtwncbad]

15 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Have to wonder if he was damaged goods when we made the trade…

I don’t wonder.  It’s the only real logical explanation for why he was so lousy.

[Slegnaac]

[Erstad Grit]

Boras

 

[Taylor]

We can laugh at the Red Sox (and we should). But we're the team that traded Edgar Quero and Ky Bush for two months of him.

[Stradling]

He went through a physical when the trade happened. So it’s doubtful he was injured when acquired. Whether he got hurt while here, that’s possible. 

[REDneck]

I'm surprised the Halos didn't sign him to a long term deal.

[AngelsLakersFan]

2 hours ago, Stradling said:

He went through a physical when the trade happened. So it’s doubtful he was injured when acquired. Whether he got hurt while here, that’s possible. 

Angels medical staff strikes again!!

[Stradling]

Just now, AngelsLakersFan said:

Angels medical staff strikes again!!

Like when they misdiagnosed Rendon’s injury last year. 

[Pancake Bear]

So, we're presuming that the Red Sox medical staff is so bad that when signing him they didn't notice a freaking UCL tear? Seems incredibly unlikely. 

[Docwaukee]

9 hours ago, Dtwncbad said:

I don’t wonder.  It’s the only real logical explanation for why he was so lousy.

how about just not being very good and having a bad stretch.  

[T.G.]

This morning on MLB Network radio - Jim Bowden said he thinks Giolito was hurt last year. His 7+ ERA over his last 12 starts was a warning sign and he doesn't think the Red Sox did an MRI as part of Giolito's physical.

 

[DMVol]

16 minutes ago, T.G. said:

This morning on MLB Network radio - Jim Bowden said he thinks Giolito was hurt last year. His 7+ ERA over his last 12 starts was a warning sign and he doesn't think the Red Sox did an MRI as part of Giolito's physical.

 

I heard that too....Bowden can be full of it at times but I suspect he knows what he is talking about here.  Moreso than fans on a message board, anyway....

[Stradling]

43 minutes ago, DMVol said:

I heard that too....Bowden can be full of it at times but I suspect he knows what he is talking about here.  Moreso than fans on a message board, anyway....

Sorry but a team isn’t giving someone $35 million without doing a full on medical.  An MRI is part of that physical process. 

[T.G.]

2 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Sorry but a team isn’t giving someone $35 million without doing a full on medical.  An MRI is part of that physical process. 

I'm inclined to believe Bowden in this case.

 

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, T.G. said:

I'm inclined to believe Bowden in this case.

 

I’m not.  To me it is just journalism to create a story to get people talking and outraged.  It defies common sense to not give a player an MRI.  It is a standard procedure teams put free agents through.  Gary Sanchez agreed to a deal with the Brewers and then in the medical they found an issue in an MRI and they restructured the deal.  That also happened this off season with Dodgers and that lefty from Boston.  

[DMVol]

10 minutes ago, Stradling said:

Sorry but a team isn’t giving someone $35 million without doing a full on medical.  An MRI is part of that physical process. 

Sorry....you aren't going to convince me that you know the process better than Bowden. Or that you have talked to anybody who might know what the Red Sox did or didn't do.  

[Stradling]

2 minutes ago, DMVol said:

Sorry....you aren't going to convince me that you know the process better than Bowden. Or that you have talked to anybody who might know what the Red Sox did or didn't do.  

Ok.  So Bowden said teams don’t do MRI?  If so that is patently false.  If teams don’t tell me how the Brewers and Dodgers caught those injury concerns?  Of course teams do MRIs.  

[DMVol]

Just now, Stradling said:

Ok.  So Bowden said teams don’t do MRI?  If so that is patently false.  If teams don’t tell me how the Brewers and Dodgers caught those injury concerns?  Of course teams do MRIs.  

He didn't say that. He said "in this case".  And no, I don't think he is lying.  So, I accept the "common sense" argument of a message board poster over a former GM who had talked to people about this case?  Um, no....

[T.G.]

1 minute ago, Stradling said:

So Bowden said teams don’t do MRI?  

No. He said he didn't think the Red Sox had Giolito go through an MRI.

[T.G.]

In any case... it's the Red Sox.  F the Red Sox.

[DMVol]

Just now, T.G. said:

No. He said he didn't think the Red Sox had Giolito go through an MRI.

That is exactly what he said. 

[Stradling]

I guess we will see.  Again, it defies logic and most times when something defies logic, it probably didn’t happen.  So if the Red Sox come out and say they did an MRI then I guess Bowden was mistaken.  If they come out and say we didn’t do an MRI then I will be mistaken and they will be idiots.

[T.G.]

Just now, Stradling said:

I guess we will see.  Again, it defies logic and most times when something defies logic, it probably didn’t happen.  So if the Red Sox come out and say they did an MRI then I guess Bowden was mistaken.  If they come out and say we didn’t do an MRI then I will be mistaken and they will be idiots.

Ideal logic would be to never sign Giolito for $35 million.  He was horrible last year.