The life and times of Lucas Giolito
Way back when they were both teammates at Harvard-Westlake (CA) High, Lucas Giolito and Max Fried had a dream. They wanted to some day play on the same major league team together.
Now, they might be getting shot at making it a very real thing.
Fried is on the verge of becoming one of the most sought-after pitchers on the free agent market, which was why Giolito was asked when appearing on the Baseball Isn't Boring podcast to make his best pitch to his buddy when it comes to signing on with the Red Sox.
"You think I haven't already talked to him about it?" quipped Giolito in response to the request.
The Red Sox pitcher then followed with the foundation for a potential sales job.
"We played high school ball together and we always talked about how cool it would be if we were on the same team in the big leagues - which were legitimate conversations we would have when we were 17," Giolito said. "So, this is the shot to make it a reality right here."
The relationship between Giolito and Fried aside, the fit between the Sox and the southpaw would seem to be a good one. Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow has said one of the team's offseason priorities would be to secure a reliable starting pitcher, which the 30-year-old certainly represents.
Fried is coming off a 29-start season with the Braves in which he totaled 174 1/3 innings and a 3.25 ERA. The lefty, who finished second in National League Cy Young voting in 2022, managed two complete games in 2024, led all NL pitchers in ground ball percentage (58.8 percent) while possessing the second-lowest exit velocity (86.3 percent).
And, as Giolito pointed out on the podcast, the fact that Fried throws with his left arm doesn't hurt either, considering the returning starters for the Red Sox are all right-handed.
"Obviously, I think he would fit in great," Giolito said. "Obviously, I think the need is there. You look at the starting pitcher depth chart and you don’t see a lot of ‘LHP’ and, in my opinion, he’s the best, most consistent starting pitcher. So, I think it’s a good fit. Obviously, I’m a little biased."
He added, "Here’s the deal. Max is going to have a lot of teams interested in him. Let’s be real. There is going to be a lot of money thrown around. It’s going to be very interesting how that plays out. Do I hope the Red Sox end up being the best fit and the best choice from different angles? Of course. But that’s going to be up to him at the end of the day."
Some of the high-end free agent starters who will be available in the upcoming offseason include Corbin Burnes, Blake Snell (if he opts-out of his deal with the Giants), and another high school teammate of Giolito, Jack Flaherty.