‘It doesn’t seem like’ Lucas Giolito will pitch in October

Boston Red Sox

“Hopefully it’s just rest. But obviously it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be able to pitch in October.”

Lucas Giolito had already been ruled out of the Red Sox’ best-of-three wild-card series against the Yankees, but he may wind up being out even longer manager Alex Cora said before Tuesday’s Game 1 in New York.

“There’s a significant chance that Giolito misses the entire playoffs,” Cora said, according to MassLive.

“It seems like it’s not as bad as we thought in the beginning, but we’re still gathering information,” Cora said. “Hopefully it’s just rest. But obviously it doesn’t seem like he’s going to be able to pitch in October.”

Giolito had been experiencing elbow recently, according to Tim Healey of The Boston Globe. The Sox hurler initially thought it was fatigue, but decided to check in with doctors after a bullpen session had to be cut short over the weekend.

Giolito rebounded this season after missing all of 2024 due to elbow surgery. He went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA and posted 121 strikeouts against 56 walks. His absence will be a blow for the Red Sox as they make their first playoff appearance since 2021.

“It’s tough. He was one of the best we had,” Cora said. “He threw the ball extremely well. Makes me wonder how banged up he was lately, especially with the [velocity being down] and command. It seems like he wasn’t on point for a while there. But we’ve got other guys that are capable and we just got to continue. Just another obstacle in our journey, but here we are and we’ve got to go.”

Garrett Crochet is set to take the mound in Tuesday’s Game 1. Brayan Bello gets the call for Game 2. With Giolito out, there’s a “good chance” rookie pitcher Connerly Early will start Game 3, Cora said, but a final decision has not been made yet. Things could change based on how the first two games go. If either team wins the first two games, there will not be a Game 3.

This season was Giolito’s first pitching in a Red Sox uniform. He signed with the team ahead of the 2024 season, but missed all of it due to an elbow injury. Now, it appears that same elbow many bring his 2025 campaign to a premature end.

Khari A. Thompson

Sports Reporter

Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.