Former MLB all-star pitcher set to join Padres

Lucas Giolito is a former MLB All-Star, but it’s a term we have to use loosely. No disrespect meant to the right-hander, but at this point in his career, he’s not meant to be a savior for the San Diego Padres as he joins their rotation this weekend. It doesn’t mean he can’t have some level of success, and he’s certainly better than some of their other options, but Giolito is more back-of-the-rotation support than anything else.

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Last Season In Boston

Last season, Giolito did do well as he made 26 starts with the Boston Red Sox and had a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings. It’s interesting, though, that Giolito received limited, at best, attention in the off-season despite the general overall state of pitching across baseball. It might have something to do with the fact that in his two seasons prior, Giolito’s ERAs were 4.90 and then 4.88.

What was troubling last season was that we saw Giolito’s strikeouts per nine innings drop to 7.51, and his 5.01 xERA was potentially a more likely indication of what we can expect from him.

Injury History

However, Giolito did miss all of 2024 with surgery, and his elbow kept him sidelined late last season, so it’s possible there were still some rust and residual issues that he was working through. From the Padres perspective, Giolito is an upgrade over Matt Waldron.