Four days before the club’s Opening Day game in Seattle, the Red Sox announced Giolito was placed on the 60-day injured list. The move was made in order to create a roster spot for Chase Anderson, a veteran right-hander who joined Boston on a one-year major league contract Sunday.
Of course, an official designation wasn’t needed to know Giolito would be off the mound for some time. The 29-year-old underwent surgery earlier this month to repair ulnar collateral ligament damage in his pitching elbow. Giolito did avoid a Tommy John procedure, however, so his road back to the diamond doesn’t figure to be as long as the path typically necessary to fully recover from a serious elbow injury.
Boston will play three more spring training games before getting the show on the road Thursday at T-Mobile Park.
As for Anderson, he took an unconventional route to the Red Sox’s Opening Day roster. The 36-year-old spent time with the Philadelphia Phillies and the Pittsburgh Pirates in spring training before latching on with Boston less than a week before the start of the regular season. He’s in line to start the campaign as a multi-inning reliever for Alex Cora and company, but Anderson does have 200 major league starts under his belt.
