TAMPA, Florida — Right-hander Lucas Giolito of the Boston Red Sox will likely miss this season after having an internal brace placed to repair his right ulnar collateral ligament.
At Birmingham, Alabama’s Andrews Sports Medicine & Orthopaedic Center on Tuesday, Dr. Jeffrey R. Dugas performed surgery. Giolito saw Dr. Lewis Yocum on August 31, 2012, less than two months after Washington selected him as the first overall pick in the 2012 amateur draft, but he was spared ligament replacement surgery.
Before Wednesday’s game against the New York Yankees, Red Sox manager Alex Cora stated he doubted Giolito would be in the starting lineup in 2024. Pitchers have recovered enough from internal brace surgery—which repairs the damage with an artificial material—to return to the major leagues in as little as nine months. Rehab after Tommy John surgery typically lasts between 12 and 18 months. The procedure replaces the ruptured ligament with a tendon from another part of the body.
“So go through the process and hopefully he gets back sooner rather than later, you know, whenever that is, but I do believe it was like the best-case scenario,” Cora stated. “After learning about the previous complications with this treatment, he’s going to to be able to help the Red Sox win more games by going out there and using his strong fastball and changeup.
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