We have a Roman Anthony injury update — yay! But the update actually makes me feel even worse — boo! Per Alex Cora, Anthony took a 25 minute walk on a treadmill yesterday and is “doing better” but “still sore” as he recovers from his strained oblique. Maybe I was hopelessly naive, but I hadn’t quite realized that Anthony’s injury was “it kinda hurts to walk” bad. (Lauren Campbell, MassLive)
But hey, even if we don’t see him take the field for the rest of this season, at least we know Roman Anthony will be on the Red Sox in 2026. That’s not the case with Lucas Giolito. The big righty reached the 140-inning threshold during last night’s start against the A’s. This triggered an opt-out clause in Giolito’s contract, one he will almost certainly exercise, as he is pretty much guaranteed to get a deal that pays him significantly more than the one-year/$19 million that remains on his current contract. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
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But Giolito doesn’t want to talk about — or even think about — his pending free agency. In fact, he thinks dwelling on it too much hurt his performance the last time he approached the end of a deal. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
Giolito opting out would open up rotation spots for young pitchers like Connelly Early and Payton Tolle, of course. But Tolle is done starting for now. In an effort to manage his workload in his first year of professional baseball, the Sox are moving Tolle to the bullpen for the remainder of the season. Kyle Harrison will take his spot in the rotation, beginning this Saturday against the Rays. (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Tolle sounds excited about the transition to relieving. And if he has any trouble out there, he can always turn to Zack Kelly’s wife for advice. She gave some words of wisdom to her husband prior to last night’s game and they seemed to pay off. (Christopher Smith, MassLive)
So can Mrs. Kelly say something to Alex Bregman, too? The third baseman is just not producing right now, when the team needs his bat more than ever. (Connor Ryan, Boston.com)
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Like Giolito, Bregman will have the ability to opt-out this offseason, too, then the Sox front office will have decide just how much he’s been worth to this team. But longtime assistant GM Eddie Romero might not be a part of the team that makes that call. He’s interviewing for the big chair with the Washington Nationals. (Ken Rosenthal, Brittany Ghiroli, The Athletic)