Lucas Giolito is keeping his options open, including returning to the Boston Red Sox.
The Red Sox didn’t offer Giolito a qualifying offer before free agency opened, which he wasn’t too surprised about. Although he is now a free agent, Giolito went on WEEI’s “Baseball Isn’t Boring” podcast with host Rob Bradford and made it clear he would love to return to the Red Sox.
“I made it clear to you, I made it clear to everybody,” Giolito said. “I would love to come back here and continue to play for the Red Sox. It’s the most fun I have ever had having a season with a team in the big leagues.
“I felt like the way it ended left such a bad taste in my mouth, and the rest of the team, particularly me not being able to pitch in that playoff series. It really sucked. I was like I really hope I can come back, and it goes better for us next time. It has got to be a mutual thing.”
Giolito signed with the Red Sox in 2024, but missed the entire year due to an injury. Last season, the right-hander made 26 starts, going 10–4 with a 3.41 ERA.
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Meanwhile, Giolito is eager for a healthy offseason and expects to be much better in 2026.
“A lot of ups and downs for me personally and the team as a whole, but overall, really, really positive,” Giolito said. “I look forward to next year next continuing to build off of that. Get back to my way of pitching.
“Get the strikeout numbers back up and all the stuff I know I’m good at that I didn’t have firing at the highest level last year, just coming back. I look forward to piecing all that stuff back together now that I’m fully healthy. I’m not grinding through stuff anymore. I’m going to have a healthy offseason.”
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Giolito was an All-Star in 2019.