Lucas Giolito, the starting pitcher for the Red Sox, has been absolutely dominant in his last five starts.
The 30-year-old pitcher’s most recent start, a 7 in which he gave up just one run and Boston won 11-2, was particularly memorable.
Giolito faced and outperformed the squad he made his debut with nine years ago on Friday, July 4, in the nation’s capital. Before being dealt to the Chicago White Sox the following offseason, he played in just six games with the Washington Nationals in 2016.
Giolito recorded seven strikeouts against his old team and threw his longest game since joining the Red Sox two years ago.
After the game, the right-hander talked to reporters about his fantastic start.
Yes, the journey has been lengthy. Giolito remarked of his career since his rookie season, “I pitched very differently back then.” In my opinion, every baseball player experiences highs and lows, difficulties and tribulations, and ups and downs during their career.
The journey has been lengthy. Even with the setbacks, I’m looking forward to many more. It’s probably more fulfilling to return from those than to simply be decent all the time. I’m simply excited to keep working and for us to start winning more and getting hotter.
Before throwing a regular season pitch for Boston in March 2024, the veteran had to have elbow surgery as part of his lengthy journey. Giolito signed a two-year, $38 million contract two and a half months prior to suffering from elbow pain and eventually undergoing surgery, which caused him to miss the whole previous season.
Even worse, he had a rough start to his team debut earlier this season. Giolito was activated at the end of April after starting the season on the injured list because of a hamstring problem.
He had a 6.42 ERA during his first seven starts, giving up 24 earned runs in 33 innings. Batters were striking.Giolito gave up a total of 44 hits and six home runs across those appearances, allowing 324 runs.
He now has a 0.83 ERA with 31 strikeouts over 32 innings after starting on June 4 with just five outs and allowing seven earned runs on eight hits. Giolito has won four of those five games and reduced his ERA from 6.42 before June 10 to 3.66 after July 4.
It’s been going well. Although it has been enjoyable, this game will never satisfy you.When questioned by Jahmai Webster of NESN, Giolito remarkedThis stretch has been very fulfilling. Because you get punched in the face as soon as you’re satisfied. I’ve visited the place countless times. All we need to do is keep going, maintain our enthusiasm, and win the series. Simply keep going.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said that even though he threw 108 pitches (75 of which were strikes) in 7 innings on Friday, he still wanted to stay in the game and finish the eighth inning.
According to Cora, Giolito was reluctant to leave the game. Thank you for that. He is a rival. He believes that it is better for him the more pitches he tosses.
Regretfully, Giolito feels that his recent achievement cannot be sustained. For the average starter, a sub-1 ERA over any multi-game span is like hitting gold.
However, by giving excellent starts in the rotation alongside Brayan Bello and Garrett Crochet, he has helped keep Boston afloat and in the wild card chase despite its inconsistent play on the diamond. Theoretically, Boston’s prospects of making the playoffs are increased if Giolito can finish five or six innings and average no more than a few runs a start the rest of the way.
Boston.com sports producer Kaley Brown covers the Boston Bruins, Boston Celtics, Patriots, and Boston Red Sox.
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