With Giolito's resurgence, no No. 2 starter for Sox is no problem

This story was excerpted from Ian Browne’s Red Sox Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

BOSTON -- There was panic on the streets of Boston when the Red Sox didn’t acquire a front-line starter to put behind Garrett Crochet in advance of the July 31 Trade Deadline.

Perhaps not enough credit was given to a couple of pitchers -- Lucas Giolito and Brayan Bello -- who have been rocks behind Crochet for over two months now.

In particular, Giolito with his towering physical presence and bulldog veteran mentality, has been standing out.

Does he feel like a No. 2 starter?

“Me and Bello,” said Giolito. “Either or [whoever]. He's been fantastic. It's so fun to watch him pitch.”

Bello will get a chance to push Boston’s winning streak to six when he takes the ball on Monday night.

“Between [Giolito] and Bello, they're doing an outstanding job,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “We’ve got capable guys that can go out there and compete. Obviously, [we need to] get Walker [Buehler] on track. We trust our guys. All of them -- Bello, Gio and obviously Crochet -- have been amazing the last two months.”

It was Giolito who kept the streak going on Sunday. The righty easily outpitched Astros ace Framber Valdez in a 6-1 victory for the Red Sox that completed a three-game sweep of the American League West division leaders.

The timing of the sweep was noteworthy in that it came right on the heels of the Trade Deadline, which came and went with the Sox acquiring Dustin May to fill out the fifth spot in the rotation and Steven Matz to add another proven left arm to the bullpen.

Giolito said he didn’t take offense at the narrative that not getting another front-line starter to back Crochet was a big misstep by the front office.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Giolito said. “When the team has a need or want, you try your best to get that for the Deadline. But at the same time, within this clubhouse, we have belief in each other. We have belief in ourselves. No matter how the Deadline ended up, we know we're a very good baseball team. We can win a lot of games.”

After missing all of last season following an internal brace procedure to repair the UCL in his right elbow, Giolito expected to be in the season-opening rotation but injured his left hamstring on the first pitch of his first game of Spring Training.

He returned on April 30 and traded off good outings with bad ones for his first seven starts, an exercise that had him sitting on a 6.42 ERA after getting just five outs against the Angels on June 4.

But a few days later at Yankee Stadium, Giolito had a breakthrough with the pitching department, finding some flaws in his delivery. He changed his arm angle, and the trajectory of his season has been on an upward swing ever since.

In his 10 starts since June 10, Giolito is 7-1 with a 2.03 ERA. During that span, opponents are hitting .194 against him with a .579 OPS.

This is the Giolito who dominated for the White Sox from 2019-21, going 29-21 with a 3.47 ERA. In fact, with the experience he has gained, perhaps this is a better version. Giolito’s Sunday best against the Astros, in which he allowed just three hits and one run, marked the first time he went eight innings in a start since Aug. 9, 2021.

“There's been times we felt like we really needed a win,” said Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story. “And he stepped up for us. [Sunday] was one of those days to set the tone early. Even after the [Carlos] Correa homer, he settled in big time and just kept them off balance. That's what he does. It's fun playing behind that.”

While it wasn’t a lack of effort that left chief baseball officer Craig Breslow shy of some more marquee additions at the Trade Deadline, immediate results in the ensuing days took some pressure off.

“It's a really resilient group that's confident in each other and coming together at exactly the right time in exactly the right way,” Breslow said. “I think there's a lot to be excited about and reason for optimism. We've got to go out and keep playing the way that we do. But, I'm not sure there are going to be a ton that was or wasn't going to happen coming out in the Deadline that was going to kind of knock these guys off the path they’re on.”