BOSTON \u2014 It has become an all-too-common narrative arc, though it remains an uplifting and exciting scene: a talented and accomplished pitcher making his first appearance in the big leagues after a year-plus away while rehabbing from elbow surgery.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday in Toronto<\/a>, the latest such instance was Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito\u2019s return to the mound, accompanied by the usual remarks from the broadcast about how many days it had been since he pitched in the major leagues.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For Giolito, that number was 577.<\/p>\n Any pitcher who makes it back after such a lengthy layoff is worthy of thorough commendation. But for Giolito, the ill-fated timing of his surgery and the unusual circumstances under which he completed his rehab \u2014 in the background of a big-market team for which he had yet to throw a pitch \u2014 made his return all the more meaningful.<\/p>\n After establishing himself as one of the more durable and dependable starting pitchers in the American League, Giolito struggled down the stretch in the final year of his contract in 2023 \u2014 a poorly timed swoon entering free agency. Nonetheless, Boston believed in him as a bounce-back candidate and signed him to a two-year, $37 million contract shortly after the calendar flipped to 2024. Giolito then arrived in Fort Myers, Florida, eager to reestablish his credentials as a frontline starter and ready to make a strong first impression on a Boston fan base starved for some stability in the rotation.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n And then he blew out.<\/p>\n Elbow discomfort during a Grapefruit League outing turned out to be more than just a temporary nuisance. Giolito underwent internal brace repair surgery<\/a> on March 13 and was ruled out for the 2024 season. Before he could make a regular-season start in his new threads, he was on the shelf for the year.<\/p>\n And this wasn\u2019t Giolito\u2019s first rodeo. He\u2019d undergone Tommy John surgery mere months after being drafted by the Washington Nationals in the first round in 2012, so he was familiar with the rehab process he was once again facing. At the same time, Giolito was a teenager then, still in the earliest stages of his career, naive about what it meant to be pulled away from competing at the highest level.<\/p>\n This time around, with more than a decade of pro experience and more than 1,000 major-league innings to his name, grappling with being physically unable to contribute was a much taller task for Giolito. And that feeling was exacerbated as he worked to fit in with a team he had only just joined.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n Giolito tried to stay engaged with his new teammates as the season progressed, but it often felt hollow.<\/p>\n \u201cLast year, you know, Netflix was here, all this stuff’s going on, and I’d be around, and it’s like, \u2019I’m on the team\u2019 … but I’m not. I haven’t done s***,\u201d he told Yahoo Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cI like watching the game and learning and analyzing pitching and all the fun stuff like that. But being away from it and not being able to compete, it felt like a piece of me was missing. There were times where it felt a little lonely, or it’s like, \u2018What can I do to be helpful?\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cNot really anything.\u201d<\/p>\n As if waiting an entire year weren\u2019t enough, Giolito\u2019s Red Sox debut was delayed further by a left hamstring strain suffered during spring training, putting him on the injured list to start this season. And across five minor-league rehab starts in April, his numbers \u2014 a 5.19 ERA with 18 hits and 13 walks allowed in 17 \u2153 innings \u2014 did not hint at a smooth transition back to the big leagues. But Giolito wasn\u2019t concerned about his statline, remaining confident that the work he was putting in would pay off.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI’ve made plenty of starts in the big leagues \u2014 that’s my comfort zone, right? The rehab games were not my comfort zone,\u201d he recalled. \u201cPitching in Double-A and Triple-A, driving all over the place, not really having a good routine \u2014 I was treating those games like rehab games. I was working on the mechanics. I was doing things that were a little bit uncomfortable, but I was really trying to hammer in some stuff we’ve been working on.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd so the results were very poor in those, but I had confidence in myself that once I got into my comfort zone \u2014 which is competing at the big-league level, being in a stadium with that extra deck and kind of feeling that environment \u2014 I was gonna feel comfortable again.\u201d<\/p>\n Sure enough, Giolito cruised through most of his outing Wednesday against the Blue Jays, wiping away any concern that his shoddy form from rehab outings would carry into his big-league return. He needed just 66 pitches to complete five scoreless innings, with seven strikeouts, just one walk and three hits allowed, before the Blue Jays got to him in the sixth.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a very good game plan going in,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was commanding the fastball to both sides and up and down. When it was evident the slider wasn’t working the way that we wanted to, it became more of, \u2018OK, let’s utilize that heater to kind of open up spots for the changeup to work,\u2019 and then I was able to command the changeup to both sides \u2026 I was pleased with the first five innings. I felt right back at home.<\/p>\n \u201cUnfortunately, the sixth inning is when I kind of lost it \u2026 hung a couple and paid for it,\u201d he said of his final frame, in which his command wavered and he surrendered homers to Daulton Varsho and Alejandro Kirk. The Red Sox ended up losing 7-6 in the 10th inning<\/a>.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n For the most part, though, it looked like the Giolito of old. His fastball averaged 93.3 mph but touched as high as 96, and he leaned heavily on the changeup that was a key weapon before his injury, throwing it 36% of the time. His slider (6%) was less prominent, a reflection of how the pitch was playing and the feedback he received from his catcher, Carlos Narv\u00e1ez.<\/p>\n \u201cThe slider wasn’t really there. The first few sliders I threw, I was really kind of pushing, getting under it on the side, and then when I made an adjustment to getting it in the strike zone, it was getting hit,\u201d Giolito said. \u201cThat’s credit to Narvey \u2014 he’s fantastic, by the way \u2014 kind of recognizing that.\u201d<\/p>\n Although it barely featured in his return outing, the slider is a pitch worth monitoring for Giolito as he continues to craft his arsenal with the Red Sox. Adjusting his grip on the pitch to get more horizontal movement was a priority for him in his first spring training with Boston, and he thought he was making positive strides with the offering before his injury. While the fastball and changeup have long been Giolito\u2019s bread-and-butter, a more whiff-centric slider could unlock another gear.<\/p>\n Advertisement<\/p>\n \u201cI know he’s working on the slider,\u201d Narv\u00e1ez said. \u201cI don’t think it needs to be elite because the fastball and changeup are elite \u2026 but if he adds a decent slider going down and away to righties and sometimes back-foot to lefties, I think it’s gonna be huge [for him].\u201d<\/p>\n