36 articles
BOS •
20 days ago
One league source described Giolito as “100%" as he recovers from soreness in his elbow that ended his season prematurely in late September. The Red Sox have a decision to make on whether to offer Giolito a qualifying offer this winter, a decision that will be influenced heavily by the reports that they get on his health. It does sound like the Red Sox are leaning towards making that offer and do appear to have interest in bringing the 31-year-old hurler back in 2026, even if he rejects the offer and hits the open market.
Source: Chris Cotillo
BOS •
about 2 months ago
It sounds like Giolito’s latest elbow issue isn’t going to require additional surgery, so that’s good. Giolito appeared to finish the season healthy before the news came down Monday that he wouldn’t start Game 3 against the Yankees. Connolly Early is now the favorite to get the nod then, if needed. With no word yet on the exact injury for Giolito, it’s hard to say if he might be more inclined to pick up his half of a $19 million mutual option. Pre-injury, he almost certainly would have declined it and sought a multiyear deal in free agency.
Source: Jen McCaffrey
BOS •
about 2 months ago
This is a brutal blow for the Red Sox. Giolito had been tremendous for Boston this season with a 3.41 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 121/56 K/BB ratio in 145 innings. However, his command had seemed to leave him in his last two starts, walking nine in nine innings while allowing five runs on eight hits. Perhaps his elbow issue had something to do with it. Red Sox manager Alex Cora seemed to imply that the injury might not be anything major, “but he won’t be ready for this one.” The Red Sox seem likely to go with Brayan Bello to start Game 2 and rookie Connelly Early to start Game 3, if needed.
Source: Tim Healey
BOS •
about 2 months ago
Giolito’s fastball velocity was 1.2 mph off his season average tonight and he walked four, but he grinded through it. He got some help in the second, when George Springer’s grounder down the third base line with the bases loaded was ruled foul, though it appeared to go over the corner of the bag. Springer was then called out on a 2-2 slider that was clearly outside. Still, even if those things hadn’t gone Giolito’s way, any runs would have been unearned because an error extended the inning. Giolito is slated to pitch again Sunday, though that could change if the Red Sox clinch a spot.
BOS •
2 months ago
Giolito eclipsed the 140-inning mark in this outing, which automatically converts his $14 million club option for 2026 into a $19 million mutual option and virtually guarantees that he’ll become a free agent this upcoming offseason. The 31-year-old righty struggled mightily with his control, handing out five free passes, while finishing with five strikeouts. He dodged traffic on the basepaths throughout this one but didn’t get burned until reliever Justin Wilson allowed three inherited runners to cross the plate following his departure. He’s in line to face the Blue Jays on Tuesday in his next outing.
BOS •
2 months ago
Giolito gave up five hits, walked one and struck out six. The 31-year-old right-hander has struck out at least six batters in three of his last four starts. Giolito has quietly had a good season with a 3.31 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 136 innings this year. He’s lined up to face the Athletics at home next week.
BOS •
2 months ago
The 31-year-old hurler walked three batters on the night while recording a pair of strikeouts. The Diamondbacks got to him for three runs in the second inning — two of them unearned thanks to an error by Trevor Story. He then allowed a two-out RBI single to Jake McCarthy in the fourth inning. Giolito got five whiffs on 94 pitches on the night, registering a CSW of 22 percent. He’ll bring a terrific 3.38 ERA, 1.26 WHIP and a 107/46 K/BB ratio (130 1/3 innings) into Friday’s showdown against the Yankees.
BOS •
3 months ago
Giolito walked five and threw a wild pitch today, but it didn’t really matter. He struck out seven and limited a punchless lineup to one double and two singles. The win moves him to 10-2 with a 3.38 ERA. He’s due to face the Diamondbacks next weekend.
BOS •
3 months ago
The stellar effort comes almost exactly five years after he threw a no-hitter while with the White Sox. He limited the Orioles to just four hits while piling up eight strikeouts and only issuing one walk in his longest scoreless outing since that no-no against the Pirates back on August 25, 2020. He’ll carry a solid 3.47 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 99/38 K/BB ratio across 119 1/3 innings (21 starts) into a tasty home matchup on Sunday against the floundering Pirates.
BOS •
3 months ago
The right-hander also walked three batters on the night while striking out four. He served up a solo homer to Ben Rice in the second inning and an RBI single to Paul Goldschmidt in the fourth. Giolito then exited with two men on and two outs in the fifth inning and one of the inherited runners ultimately scored on a bloop single. The 31-year-old hurler generated nine swings and misses on 97 pitches on the night, posting a CSW of 32 percent. He now sports a 3.72 ERA, 1.27 WHIP and a 91/37 K/BB ratio over 111 1/3 innings through his first 20 starts on the season. He’ll do battle against the Orioles his next time out in Baltimore on Tuesday.
BOS •
3 months ago
The good news: Giolito had a great final line and worked into the seventh inning here. The bad news: the Marlins teed off on him for 12 hard-hit balls and it was a minor miracle that they couldn’t put more runs on the board. Giolito didn’t work a single one-two-three innings and rarely beat hitters with his fastball in the zone, leading to many of those hard-hit balls. Next up, he gets the Yankees in the Bronx.
BOS •
3 months ago
Giolito didn’t come close to matching the magic of his previous start when he held the Astros to just one run over eight innings, in large part thanks to a complete inability to find the strike zone. He walked six against just one strikeout, and he threw 55-of-97 pitches for strikes. Giolito has had his fair share of clunkers, but they’re often followed by solid outings. He’ll try and do that against the Marlins on Friday.
BOS •
4 months ago
The veteran struck out four and walked one while registering a 17 percent whiff rate and 22 percent CSW. It wasn’t a dominant effort in terms of swing-and-miss, but Giolito spotted his changeup well, and the Astros averaged just an 86 mph average exit velocity on balls in play, with the only damage being a solo shot by Carlos Correa. After a rough start to the season, Giolito now has a 3.57 ERA on the season and can be started in almost all matchups, including next weekend against the Padres.
BOS •
4 months ago
Giolito managed to mostly hold Minnesota’s lineup in check, carrying a shutout into the fifth before Brooks Lee ripped a run-scoring single to center field. It was a much-needed rebound performance after coughing up four home runs his last time out against the Phillies. The 31-year-old righty will bring a respectable 3.80 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 77/26 K/BB ratio across 87 2/3 innings (16 starts) into a home outing on Monday against the Royals.
BOS •
4 months ago
This felt more like the Home Run Derby than a normal game. Giolito allowed two homers to the first three batters of the game then two more later on in what wound up as a very short outing. Bryce Harper’s was the most impressive – a 439-foot shot on a first-pitch fastball that was right down the middle. In total, nine of the 16 balls the Phillies put in play against Giolito were hit harder than 100 mph and the only reason he didn’t wind up taking the loss is because Jesús Luzardo had an implosion of epic proportions on the other side of this ugly start. He’ll try to right the ship next time out against the Twins in Minnesota.
BOS •
4 months ago
The 31-year-old right-hander punched out six batters on the afternoon while issuing a pair of free passes. Most of the damage done against him came in the opening inning as Seiya Suzuki tagged him for a three-run homer. Giolito settled in nicely afterwards and didn’t give up another run until the sixth inning where he exited with a man on second and one out and that runner ultimately scored. He got 14 swings and misses on 98 pitches on the day, registering a CSW of 27 percent. He’ll try to get back in the win column as he carries a 3.59 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a 70/23 K/BB ratio (77 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Phillies in Philadelphia.
BOS •
4 months ago
A home series versus the Rockies was just what Boston’s pitching staff needed. Of course, Giolito was already throwing well coming into this one, and he’s now 6-1 with a 3.36 ERA. The Red Sox should try to capitalize and send him to an actual contender before the deadline, though this recent stretch against weak clubs might convince them they still have a shot. Giolito will probably start Boston’s first game after the break against the Cubs.
BOS •
5 months ago
It was Giolito’s first time pitching into the eighth since Aug. 9, 2021. Since giving up seven runs in 1 2/3 innings on June 4, taking his ERA to 6.42, he’s allowed a total of three earned runs over 32 2/3 innings in five starts. He’s now 5-1 with a 3.66 ERA through 12 starts, and he looks like a nice option next week in a home start against the Rockies.
BOS •
5 months ago
Giolito’s own error led to the run, but he’s not sweating it now; the contest was already 6-1 at that point, and the Red Sox went on to score 14 times while he was in the game. Giolito moved to 4-1 with a 3.99 ERA, and the Red Sox won for the seventh time in his last nine starts. Giolito will make his next start against his original organization, the Nationals. Mixed leaguers should still be pretty wary of him, but that’s a favorable matchup.
BOS •
5 months ago
The unearned runs came after left fielder Jarren Duran and third baseman Nate Eaton collided on a shallow popup in the third, allowing it to drop. The remaining two runs came on solo homers in the fifth, tying the game at 4-4. The Red Sox bounced back with one in the top of the sixth, putting Giolito in line for the win when he departed. It didn’t hold up, though. Giolito allowed just four hits in total and struck out five in a third straight quality start. He’ll face the Blue Jays next.
BOS •
5 months ago
This was vintage Giolito, with help by a vintage Seattle Mariner offensive performance. The 30-year-old was able to procure 18 swings-and-misses on 91 pitches, and all three hits allowed were singles. In fact, all three knocks came back-to-back-to-back in the third inning, and Giolito struck out the next three hitters he faced, including Cal Raleigh to end the threat. That’s back-to-back impressive outings for Giolito to lower his ERA from 6.42 to 4.73. He’ll take on the Giants in San Francisco next week while squaring off against former teammate Rafael Devers.
BOS •
5 months ago
The Red Sox have taken a lot of tough losses this season, so winning a game like this, that they probably didn’t deserve to, is a nice turnaround. They outhit the Rays 7-3 even though the Rays had eight more hard-hit balls (14-6) and a .312 xBA, compared to .162 for Boston. Giolito benefited from an out on a Christopher Morel fly to the triangle that had a .910 xBA and would have been a homer in 17 ballparks. Later, Brandon Lowe flew out to right against Garrett Whitlock on a ball that would have been a homer in 24 parks. The outing lowered Giolito’s ERA from 6.42 to 5.45. Still, eight hard-hit balls, three walks and four strikeouts is nothing to write home about. He’ll likely again dodge the Yankees this weekend and make his next start Monday in Seattle.
BOS •
6 months ago
Giolito’s 43 pitches today produced nine hard-hit balls and one missed swing. There just isn’t anything here to be encouraged about. In his best years, Giolito struck out over 32 percent of the batters he faced in 2019 and 2020. That was down to 25-26 percent while he was finishing with ERAs in the high-4.00s in 2022 and ’23. Right now, he’s at 18 percent with his current 6.42 ERA. Given that he’s never been very good about limiting homers or walks, there’s no way he’s going to succeed while missing so few bats, and while there’s hope his slider and changeup will get a little better with more reps, he’s probably not regaining any additional velocity, since he’s already back to where he was in the two seasons before he got hurt. The Red Sox won’t move on yet, but they might benefit from doing so. Giolito is due to make his next start against the Rays.
BOS •
6 months ago
The bases were empty when Giolito was pulled in the fifth, but Alex Cora decided against letting him face Matt Olson for a third time. It’s kind of hard to blame him: Including his 1-for-2 tonight, Olson is 8-for-11 with four homers in 14 career plate appearances against Giolito. The move cost Giolito a chance at a win, but the Red Sox did prevail in the end. Giolito, currently 1-1 with a 4.78 ERA in six starts, will get the Angels next.
BOS •
6 months ago
Giolito came up big with the Red Sox wanting a long outing after Hunter Dobbins’ four-inning effort in the first game. He struck out six and walked two while throwing 99 pitches. It’s Giolito’s third quality start in five outings for Boston, though since he gave up six runs apiece in the other two, his ERA stands at 5.27. He’ll likely make his next start Friday or Saturday in Atlanta.
BOS •
6 months ago
Giolito had very good velocity for the second outing in a row, but it didn’t seem to matter. He gave up six balls hit at least 104 mph, including homers of 112, 110 and 108 mph. It brings his total to five homers surrendered in 20 1/3 innings this season. That makes for an even worse pace than he was one in 2023, when he gave up a league-high 41 homers in 184 1/3 innings. He’ll face the Orioles next.
BOS •
6 months ago
The unearned run was his own fault, as he tried to go to third on a sac bunt and threw the ball through Alex Bregman, allowing the runner to come around to score. He still had two on with none out after that play, but he escaped the jam by retiring Jonathan India, Bobby Witt Jr. and Vinnie Pasquantino in order. Giolito’s velocity was far better today after a poor showing last week; he averaged 94.0 mph with his fastball, compared to 91.6 mph in the loss to the Rangers. He was at 93.2 mph in his season debut Apr. 30. We’d like to see more consistency before trusting him in mixed leagues, but today’s outing was quite encouraging.
BOS •
7 months ago
Giolito averaged 93.2 mph with his fastball in his return from elbow surgery last week, which was right in line with his previous norms and quite encouraging. Tonight, though, he was down to 91.6 mph, and he was pretty well lit up as a result. Hopefully for Boston’s sake, it will prove to be aberration. He’s slated to face the Royals next.
BOS •
7 months ago
Giolito retired 11 consecutive batters at one point during his long-awaited Boston debut before the Blue Jays finally got to him with two outs in the sixth when Alejandro Kirk and Daulton Varsho connected for back-to-back homers. He threw 61 of 90 pitches for strikes, finishing with a robust 33 percent CSW. He displayed some impressive precision and command of his arsenal, leaning heavily on his fastball/changeup combination. He’s worthy of a speculative roster spot in all fantasy formats. He’ll square off against the Rangers on Tuesday in his next outing.
BOS •
7 months ago
Giolito will finally make his Red Sox debut after missing all of 2024 while recovering from Tommy John surgery an suffering a hamstring issue before the start of the 2025 season. The 30-year-old right-hander has the stuff to be an effective option, but fantasy managers may want to take a wait and see approach before adding him to the roster.