It seems like ages ago that Lucas Giolito declined his mutual option with the Boston Red Sox in early November and effectively ended his tenure in Boston.
Giolito’s time with the Red Sox was very flawed, especially due to injury, but he ultimately put together a year to feel proud of in 2025. The Red Sox, with their stable of young arms, felt like moving on from the 31-year-old right-hander was the right move; hence their lack of interest in re-signing Giolito.
Fair enough. But Giolito might still have some good years left in him to offer another club.
On Tuesday, Zachary D. Rymer called the San Francisco Giants the “best fit” for Giolito in free agency. Imagine Lucas teamming up with his old Red Sox pal Rafael Devers in San Fran … it’s sort of a hilarious outcome for Red Sox fans to think about.
Story continues below advertisement
“Lucas Giolito had a strong bounce-back season this year, but there was some good luck involved in it. He had an expected ERA of 5.00, and he should have given up more home runs,” Rymer wrote.
“It doesn’t take much effort to make sense of these things. The righty didn’t strike out many batters, and both his ground-ball rate (39.5) and exit velocity (90.3 mph) were worse than average. Basically, he gave up a lot of hard-hit air balls. Hence, the Giants. And more specifically, Oracle Park. Statcast pegs it as the second-worst park for home run hitters in all of MLB, ahead of only PNC Park in Pittsburgh. It’s a good place for all pitchers to call home, but especially fly-ball types like Giolito.”
“Further, the Giants need a good, solid No. 3 to place behind Logan Webb and Robbie Ray. Giolito is exactly that type of pitcher,” Rymer added.
Story continues below advertisement
Giolito made 26 starts in ’25 for Boston, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA and 1.29 WHIP across 145 innings, fanning 121 batters.
Across his MLB career, which began with the Washington Nationals in 2016, Giolito has pitched in 206 games for five teams, compiling a 71-66 record, 4.30 ERA, and 1,198 strikeouts in 1,158 2/3 innings. His peak came with the Chicago White Sox, earning All-Star nods in 2019 and 2021, along with a no-hitter in 2020.
