11:42am: The Sox formally announced Whitlock’s placement on the 15-day IL. It’s retroactive to Aug. 10, so he can return in as little as 12 days. The team has not yet indicated whether that’s the expectation, however.
10:39am: The Red Sox are placing star setup man Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list and recalling right-hander Greg Weissert from Triple-A in his place, reports Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. He’s been battling some inflammation in his right elbow, though Whitlock downplayed the severity of the issue when chatting with Cotillo about the injury and said he doesn’t believe there’s any structural issue.
Whitlock, 30, has been a quality big league arm from the moment the Sox plucked him from the archrival Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, but this has been his most dominant season to date. He’s pitched 44 innings with a sparkling 2.05 ERA that’s backed by a 29.2% strikeout rate and a minuscule 4.2% walk rate. Whitlock has been practically untouchable dating back to early May. Over his past 29 2/3 innings, he’s allowed only four runs (1.21 ERA) and, incredibly, walked only one of the 106 batters he’s faced along the way (0.9%).
No pitcher in baseball (min. 40 innings pitched) has caused opposing batters to chase off the plate more than Whitlock; his 42% chase rate is not only the best in baseball but leads the second-ranked Tanner Scott (40.2%) by nearly two full percentage points. Whitlock’s 15.8% swinging-strike rate is the 14th-highest mark among the 319 pitchers in this subset.
Suffice it to say, even losing Whitlock for the 15-day minimum is a notable blow. He and closer Aroldis Chapman are one of the most formidable one-two bullpen punches in the sport — if not the most formidable. The Sox have other options to step into a more prominent setup role in the short-term — Justin Slaten, Tyron Guerrero and deadline pickup Erik Miller all have 10 or more holds this year — but teams obviously can never fully replace relievers of this caliber.
Whitlock’s absence comes at a decidedly poor time. After a blazing hot streak earlier in the summer that completely flipped the script and took Boston from deadline seller to buyer, the Red Sox have now dropped five straight games. They’re still firmly in possession of the second Wild Card spot in the American League, sitting on a 64-56 record, but the losing streak has caused their standing to wilt a bit. The Sox are 4.5 games ahead of the Rangers, who currently have a modest half-game lead over the Tigers and Twins for the final postseason spot in the AL. The Guardians and Blue Jays are only one game further back in the standings. FanGraphs still gives the Sox a 91% chance at making the playoffs. PECOTA gives them an 89% chance. They’re still very likely to land in the playoffs, but losing one of the game’s premier relievers is a notable bump in the road as they try to avoid a series sweep at the hands of Toronto and keep this losing streak from spiraling any further.
