The 2025 MLB Playoffs begin on September 30, and the heated Red Sox-Yankees rivalry will get another chapter as the defending AL champions host their longtime hated rivals in a short best-of-three series.
The Red Sox pitching staff, highlighted by two former White Sox All-Stars will look to take down the Bronx bombers, but they’ll be without an important piece of the rotation.
RHP Lucas Giolito will not be on the Red Sox Wild Card roster as he deals with what the team is calling "an elbow injury."
Alex Cora told the media that Lucas Giolito is likely out for the playoffs, per @byJulianMack.
— Tyler Milliken (@tylermilliken_) September 30, 2025
Good shot Connelly Early is your G3 starter. pic.twitter.com/JBjUBwAdxM
Giolito has had playoff success with the White Sox
The 31 year-old Giolito spent parts of seven seasons with the White Sox, including getting the ball on Opening Day each year from 2020-2022.
Giolito started games in both the 2020 and 2021 playoffs for the White Sox, and famously tossed seven innings of one-run ball in Oakland in the COVID-shortened playoffs. Giolito struggled in his final year with the White Sox in 2023 before being traded to the Angels in the deal that netted the White Sox young catcher Edgar Quero.
After a tough finish with the Angels and Guardians, Giolito landed a two-year free agent deal with the Red Sox. An injury eliminated the entirety of his 2024 season, and he made his return to the mound at the end of April this season.
Giolito had a resurgent season in 2025
Giolito’s return in 2025 has been a huge boost to the Red Sox playoff push. The right-hander went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA over 145 innings in 2025 and helped provide stability in a young Red Sox rotation.
It is unclear the severity of Giolito’s injury, but another elbow injury just a year after missing an entire season for a similar issue is scary for both Giolito and the Red Sox.
The Red Sox now face the possibility of losing Giolito for the entire playoffs, putting a huge dent in what they considered to be a strong postseason rotation. For Giolito, who is likely set to become a free agent at the end of the season, another long-term elbow injury could cost him millions of dollars and potentially wipe out his 2026 season.
Giolito was set to join a group of several former White Sox players participating in this year’s postseason, giving White Sox fans a bitter taste of what could’ve been. White Sox fans won’t get to see Giolito pitch, but they’ll get a chance to catch another former Sox ace on Tuesday night, as the Red Sox send lefty Garrett Crochet to the mound at Yankee Stadium.
On Wednesday, former White Sox lefty Carlos Rodón will go for the Yankees.
Even though the White Sox aren’t in the playoffs this year, there’s plenty for Sox fans to watch this postseason. So sit back, relax, and enjoy what’ll hopefully be an electric October.