Red Sox Starter Lucas Giolito Dishes On 'Minor,' 'Annoying' Injury Setback

"It feels very minor."

Feb 18, 2025; Lee County, FL, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito (54) participates in media day at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Baseball can be a cruel game sometimes.

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Lucas Giolito spent the entire 2024 season rehabbing after surgery on his right elbow in March. He wasn't able to throw a pitch for his new team in the only guaranteed season of his free-agent contract.

Of course, it was a relatively easy decision for Giolito to opt into year two of that contract, so he's set to finally make his Red Sox debut someday soon. But on Tuesday, he suffered yet another setback.

In his spring training debut against the Philadelphia Phillies, Giolito left after one inning after feeling tightness in his hamstring--tightness that the righty said he experienced on the very first pitch of the outing.

“I’ve pulled my hamstring in my career a few times, and it feels very minor,” Giolito said, per MassLive’s Sean McAdam. “That’s what (the training staff) is saying based on the initial testing. It’s just an annoying little setback, I guess.”

Giolito wound up pitching to six batters, walking two, allowing a double, and surrendering two earned runs, both on sacrifice flies. But no one cares about the stats--the real issue is whether the hamstring causes him to miss any time during the regular season.

As of Tuesday afternoon, Giolito wasn't sure if the injury would prevent him from making his next spring training start (Monday against the Baltimore Orioles) as scheduled. He's set to have an MRI on his hamstring on Wednesday.

“You can’t have that attitude,” Giolito said. “It is what it is. Things happen, injuries happen. I wouldn’t even categorize this as an injury, really, at this point. It just felt like it got tight on me.

Per Ian Browne of MLB.com, the Red Sox are hoping to know more about Giolito's status by Thursday.

"Hopefully it's nothing major and he can make his next start," manager Alex Cora said, via Browne.

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