Lucas Giolito, who helped carry the Red Sox rotation all season, will not be on the mound when the Sox take on New York in the best-of-three series at Yankee Stadium.
UPDATE, 3:30 p.m. ET: Cora also said that Giolito had to cut his most recent bullpen session short and is seeing the doctor.
3:15 p.m. ET: Ahead of the best-of-three wild card round against the New York Yankees, the Boston Red Sox revealed some bad news on Monday: Starting pitcher Lucas Giolito will not be on the roster for the series because of an elbow issue.
Chris Smith of MLB.com had that information on social media:
Now, there's been no clarity as to what Giolito's outlook is if the Red Sox advance, so for now, it's just one day at a time. We know that Garrett Crochet will start Tuesday's opener, but the Game 2 starter has not been announced.
It stands to reason that it would be Brayan Bello, with Smith indicating that Connelly Early and Kyle Harrison are options for Game 3.
Giolito's year as a whole
Giolito, 31, put together a solid year after coming back from Tommy John surgery. Though he began the year on the shelf with a hamstring issue, he made 26 starts, going 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA. He struck out 121 batters in 145.0 innings.
He hit contract incentives in his deal and will have the ability to seek a multi-year deal in free agency.
Giolito of late
It's unclear when the elbow issue popped up, but it is clear that Giolito was not as sharp down the stretch. Over his final two starts, he failed to go longer than 4.2 innings, and he had nine walks in those two combined outings.
Brian Barrett of the Ringer indicates his control issues extend beyond those two outings:
Injuries piling up
Giolito isn't the only Red Sox player impacted by injury at this point in the season. Dustin May is also headed to Ft. Myers and won't be on the roster while Roman Anthony is still out with an oblique issue.
He is yet to resume baseball activities after going on the injured list Sept. 3.
Game 1 information
First pitch from Yankee Stadium is set for 6:08 p.m. ET on Tuesday. Crochet will be opposed by New York lefty Max Fried.
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