The Red Sox’ 6-man rotation is down to 3 ahead of Opening Day
The results are in from Lucas Giolito’s MRI for the tightness he felt in his left hamstring after throwing his first pitch of spring training. Unfortunately for the Boston Red Sox, Alex Cora said on Thursday that Giolito will once again begin the season on the injury list due to a “low-grade” hamstring strain.
Giolito will join fellow starting pitchers Brayan Bello and Kutter Crawford as the third Red Sox starter who will not be available for Opening Day. The Red Sox entered spring training with ambitions to field a six-man rotation, but now, roughly two weeks away from the start of the year, half their arms are out.
“We’re going to be tested right away,” said Cora, via Julian McWilliams. How long Giolito, Bello, and Crawford will be out is unknown. Cora had said that they are being particularly conservative with Bello, leading one to believe he is closer than the others.
Regardless, once the season begins on Mar. 27, the team will play 33 games in 36 days (Mar. 27-May 4), with what looks like only three surefire major-league starters.
Overall, what originally appeared to be a cumbersome rotation has quickly devolved into a shorthanded staff. At the end of the day, half of their pitchers being out cannot be the way the Red Sox envisioned the season beginning.
Luke Graham is a digital sports content co-op for 98.5 the Sports Hub. He is currently a sophomore at Northeastern University studying communications and media studies. Read all his articles here, and follow him on X @LukeGraham05.
