The Red Sox starting rotation continues to get bad news

The hits keep on coming for the Red Sox’s starting rotation ahead of Opening Day.

Boston is now set to open the 2025 season with two starters on the IL, with Alex Cora noting on Tuesday that Brayan Bello is expected to be sidelined alongside Kutter Crawford to open the new season.

Last month, the Red Sox noted that Crawford would likely begin the year on the IL due to lingering patellar tendon pain in his right knee — with Cora adding on Tuesday that Bello also needs a longer runway to get ready after being shut down early in camp due to shoulder soreness. 

“We talked to Brayan. He’s behind,” Cora told MassLive’s Sean McAdam on Tuesday. “He’s not going to be with us for Opening Day. It just doesn’t make sense, where he’s at, to push him and rush everything where something major happens. He’s throwing a live BP (Wednesday), and he’s going to be part of it, but he’s behind so we’ll take care of him.”

While the Red Sox still have three starters already available in Garrett Crochet, Walker Buehler and Tanner Houck, both Crawford and Bello’s uncertain status stand as a setback for a Boston rotation that needs to take a step forward if the team intends on snapping its playoff drought in October. 

But further complicating matters is the status of veteran righty Lucas Giolito — who is working his way back from season-ending elbow surgery last March.

Losing a dependable innings eater in Giolito was a significant blow for the 2024 Red Sox, with his return this spring offering hope that Boston can buoy the back end of its rotation with a player who has largely avoided serious injury — at least prior to joining Boston.

But in his first start of spring training on Tuesday afternoon against the Phillies, Giolito acknowledged that he felt some tightness in his hamstring upon delivering his first pitch. 

“I knew it wasn’t bad,” Giolito told McAdam postgame. “So I just adjusted my front leg mechanics a little bit, just to compete and get through the inning. Wasn’t pretty obviously (he was charged with two runs on one hit and two walks), but it felt good to be back out there competing. We’ll assess and do whatever (the training staff) says and it shouldn’t be bad.”

Giolito logged one inning in Boston’s eventual 18-8 loss to the Phillies — surrendering a hit, two runs, two walks, and a strikeout. 

“It’s frustrating,” Giolito told McAdam of his injury, adding that he wasn’t sure if the setback would hold him out of his next scheduled start. “I’d like everything to be just sunshine and rainbows and feeling great. But that’s not the way baseball works or the way life works sometimes. The fortunate thing is that the strength’s really good. I already know (in my head) that it’s nothing bad. It’s just a little thing to have to work through.”

Speaking postgame, Cora noted that Giolito will undergo an MRI on Wednesday to determine the severity of his hamstring strain.

With both Bello and Crawford sidelined — and Giolito now set to undergo testing — the Red Sox might have to turn to two depth starters to open the 2025 season, with Richard Fitts, Quinn Priester, Michael Fulmer, Hunter Dobbins and Cooper Criswell all standing as the next men up. 

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.