Lucas Giolito pitched well in the 2025 MLB season with the Boston Red Sox, but he began the 2026 season without a contract.
Suddenly, Giolito’s market is picking up with two prominent National League teams showing interest: The Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres.
The Cubs and Padres’ interest was reported by The Athletic, via a piece from Patrick Mooney, Ken Rosenthal, Dennis Lin and Sahadev Sharma.
The Cubs currently have Matthew Boyd and Justin Steele on the IL, and Cade Horton – the NL Rookie of the Year runner-up in 2025 – is out for the season, so the pitching depth has already been tested for Chicago.
The Padres rotation also took a hit as Joe Musgrove began the year on IL, and Opening Day starter Nick Pivetta left his latest start early due to elbow stiffness.
The Padres also have German Marquez and Walker Buehler at the end of the rotation, and those two struggled in 2025 and are hoping to turn things around.
In that sense, the Cubs and Padres both make sense for Giolito, especially with the way things have gone to start the season for both ballclubs.
Lucas Giolito went 10-4 with a 3.41 ERA in Boston in 2025, but he didn’t make the Wild Card playoff roster due to an injury. Still, it should be only a matter of time before somebody takes a chance on the veteran pitcher.
