Lucas Giolito has been an on-and-off pitcher for the Red Sox. He's been an excellent pitcher throughout his 9-year career, and is doing somewhat well this year. However, in some starts, it feels like he just doesn't have it anymore.
Over the course of his career, he's debuted with the Nationals, then was traded to the White Sox (where he played for 6.5 seasons), then was traded to the Angels where he only played for a month and was DFA'd, and was picked up shortly after by the Cleveland Guardians for the rest of his season. He signed with Boston in 2024, hoping for a fresh start.
However, he underwent right elbow surgery and was out for that season. He also suffered a hamstring strain in his left knee, which had him start the 2025 season on the IL.
He returned on May 1st and did pretty well against the Blue Jays, striking out seven and giving up two home runs (three runs in total) in just six innings. He's got an ERA of 3.99 and struck out 51 batters in his 11 starts so far this season.
According to Chris Cotillo on MassLive, he stated that he doesn't want to leave because he's already dealt with that when leaving Chicago.” I had been in Chicago for so long that I didn’t realize the impact it would have on me getting traded, being in a new place and having to quickly try and develop new relationships and all that kind of stuff. It wasn’t that difficult, but my performance suffered, for sure. I was going through a lot during that period, so it was definitely a challenge, and I’ve learned a lot from it."
He also stated verbatim that he loves it here in Boston, "I don’t want to be traded. I really love it here. I want to help this team win games to the end. I’m really pulling for us here.”
However, he may just be traded among others if CBO Craig Breslow doesn't commit to his "bolster" comments he's previously stated. It's carrying a lot of weight to the fans. This is because he once committed to keeping Devers, but now, he's gone, playing for San Francisco. He's betrayed the trust of the fans, so let's see if he'll keep it going. But as for Giolito, and for the performances he's put on lately, he might just be traded at the deadline, sadly. It'll be hard to see him go, but unfortunately, baseball is business at the end of the day.