While the Boston Red Sox didn't do a whole lot to improve their roster over the offseason, they made one key acquisition in signing starting pitcher Lucas Giolito to a one-year deal with a player option for a second.
Unfortunately for Giolito and the team, the 29-year-old suffered a UCL injury during spring training that forced him to have internal bracing.
And, while Giolito hoped to be back on the mound before the end of the season, that's not going to be the reality of the situation.
“They shut that down,” Giolito told MassLive. “I tried to convince them. I tried to bring the idea up and it’s just not in the cards. I think it’s always good to set lofty goals, but with the rehab and everything, I’m going to be in a better position. The team’s going to be in a better position to rehab through this year and then get ramped up and ready for a full season next year.”
Despite that bad news, Giolito is still rehabbing hard and appreciating every new step he reaches in the process.
“Working with the training staff, it’s been fantastic,” Giolito said. “It’s just making sure to stay motivated every day. Hitting each little goal and looking forward to the next major step, which will be beginning my throwing program.
“We’re doing a lot of work on my shoulder. Obviously, letting this thing heal and doing whatever work for the forearm and the whole area surrounding the elbow. But a lot of that is just letting everything sink in. A lot of work for the shoulder, getting the shoulder in a really good spot so that when I come back throwing and start ramping up again we are already a step ahead of where I was before because we have so much time afforded to us now.”
Prior to this injury, Giolito had made 167 starts over his first 6 full seasons in the league, so this is all new to him.
“When you’re in that full-year rehab process, it’s really easy to get caught up in it and you can get caught up in your own feelings and what you’re doing and the monotony of rehab work,” Giolito said. “Guys can start to feel isolated from the team or feel like you’re not part of the team. I think that it’s important to do everything you can to maintain that identity of being a really good teammate even when you’re not able to contribute on the field.
“Just going through day-to-day rehab, taking a step back, seeing the game from a different perspective, it’s really made me appreciate the privilege it is to compete and compete at this level,” he added. “I’ve been doing it for a long time — not as long as some other guys in this room — but I’ve been doing it for a long time.
“I wouldn’t say I was taking it for granted, but I’d been healthy for so long and pitching for so long that I was like, ‘This is normal. This is my life.’ To have it taken away for a full season, I’m really developing an appreciation for what I get to do for a living, like on a whole other level.”
Giolito is all but guaranteed to pick up the $19 million player option he has for the 2025 season, and if he stays healthy, he could take over as one of the team's top pitchers in a year that Boston should be spending and contending.