Lucas Giolito in for Cade Horton? Why the Chicago Cubs May Not Sign the Ex-White Sox Pitcher
The Chicago Cubs began the week with the gut-wrenching news that right-handed pitcher Cade Horton is going to miss the rest of the 2026 season because of an elbow injury. The Cubs haven’t said exactly what the arm surgery will be, but Horton won’t be back until next year, which is a huge bummer, no doubt. Fans immediately turned to the free agent list to see who the Cubs could sign, and there’s one name that stands out, ex-Chicago White Sox pitcher Lucas Giolito.
The right-hander pitched for the Boston Red Sox in 2025, and he ended up with a pretty solid season. Giolito missed all of 2024 after an internal brace procedure was performed to repair his UCL. He came back at the end of April and, at first, struggled, posting a 6.42 ERA over seven starts. However, beginning on June 10, the right-hander was giving the Red Sox strong innings, recording a 2.52 ERA in his next 19 starts.
The numbers weren’t all that dominant as Giolito had a subpar strikeout rate of 20.3%, while he walked 9.7% of the batters he faced. Yet, opponents only hit .209 against him, and in short, you could say Giolito was fortunate to end with the numbers that he did. A 3.41 ERA in 145 innings after elbow surgery is still really damn good, so it is surprising that no one has agreed to a contract with the 2019 All-Star.
On the surface, it make 100% sense for the Cubs to at the very least give Giolito and his camp a call. Colin Rea and Javier Assad are already being used to fill in for injured starters in the rotation, and if you’re the Cubs, you don’t want to sit on your hands and become more desperate if there’s another injury.
At the same time, it’s not always so straightforward. Giolito’s career has been somewhat of a rollercoaster. A top prospect in the Washington Nationals system more than a decade ago, Giolito was a first-round pick in 2012 and was eventually traded to the White Sox. He had a horrific first full year in 2018, ending the season with a 6.13 ERA and 1.48 WHIP over 32 starts.
That made his 2019 turnaround more impressive, as Giolito turned into an All-Star and finished sixth in Cy Young voting in the American League. For three straight years, he was a strong presence in the White Sox rotation, posting a 3.47 ERA in 72 starts with a 30.7 K% that ranked No. 6 among 60 qualified starting pitchers between 2019-21.
Unfortunately, the decline started to hit, a crazy 2023 season that saw Giolito pitch for three teams, and then came the elbow surgery in 2024. In his first venture into free agency, Giolito signed a one-year contract with the Red Sox that also included a player option. In total, he earned $38.5 million over two years, as he obviously picked up the option following his season-ending surgery.
Now, Giolito is having trouble finding common ground with any team trying to sign him. Why hasn’t he signed yet? Money.
We hinted at that during this week’s Pinwheels And Ivy Podcast. When every team is starving for pitching, you always question why a certain player hasn’t been signed. Giolito has been available since last November, so it’s not like other teams haven’t been giving him a call.
Will the Cubs eventually get desperate and pay close to what Giolito wants? Time will tell, but for now the team is relying on their internal options, which have been good.