Red Sox Veteran Makes Declaration As Long Road Nears End

The reinforcements aren’t just on the way for the Red Sox. They have arrived.

Boston’s rotation will get a big boost Tuesday night (6:30 p.m. ET, NESN) when Brayan Bello makes his 2025 season debut against the Mariners. Bello has missed the first month of the season with a shoulder issue, and he’ll rejoin the rotation to open the series with Seattle.

Bello might not be the only veteran starter to get back in the saddle this week for Boston. Lucas Giolito’s long-awaited Red Sox debut might finally be here. After Tommy John surgery cost him the entire 2024 season, Giolito suffered a hamstring injury in spring training that further put off his first appearance in a Sox uniform.

Now, it sounds like he’s ready to go.

“I feel ready to go,” Giolito declared Monday, per MLB.com. “Finally hitting the five-inning mark was good, so I feel ready to help contribute in whatever way possible.”

Giolito has already made four starts in the minors this season, two with Triple-A Worcester and two with Double-A Portland. The most recent came Sunday when Giolito allowed three runs on six hits over five innings against Hartford. The most important number, of course, is that five-inning milestone, and Giolito was also happy to put his previous start behind him after feeling “disgusted” by his April 15 performance with Portland.

“My first Double-A game, I didn’t throw enough strikes, so I was disgusted in that aspect,” Giolito said of a two-inning, five-hit, three-run clunker against Hartford on the 15th. “My entire goal for (Sunday) was just to throw as many strikes as I possibly could. We did that. I didn’t walk anyone. I did give up some hard contact, but that’s because I was trying to throw so many pitches down the middle. I accomplished what I set out to do.”

After Bello makes his debut Tuesday, Sean Newcomb takes the ball Wednesday before Garrett Crochet makes the start Thursday in the series finale. The Sox then head to Cleveland, and there’s no penciled-in starter for the opener against the Guardians, which looks like it could be Giolito’s spot to take opposite his former team.