The Boston Red Sox will be without one of their best bullpen arms as they look to end their five-game losing streak.
They placed right-hander Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list with elbow inflammation before Thursday afternoon’s series finale in Toronto, and recalled fellow righty Greg Weissert from Triple-A Worcester to take his roster spot.
Whitlock has been one of the most reliable late-inning arms in the game since choosing to go back to the Boston bullpen following the 2024 season, after injuries hampered repeated efforts to work as a starter. He owns a 2.17 ERA over 107 regular-season appearances (116 innings) since the start of 2025, including a 2.05 ERA through 45 games (44 innings) this year.
It was therefore noteworthy when interim manager Chad Tracy did not use Whitlock for a tied 1-1 eighth inning Wednesday night. Righty Tyron Guerrero and rookie left-hander Alec Gamboa allowed a combined five runs in the frame, and the Red Sox ultimately fell to the Blue Jays 6-4 after their ninth-inning rally fell short.
Tracy revealed postgame that Whitlock had been dealing with “a little bit of inflammation in his elbow,” on and off.
Whitlock is the longest-tenured member of the current Red Sox pitching staff by far. Boston snatched him from the New York Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft, and he enjoyed a dominant rookie year in 2021, posting a 1.96 ERA over 46 regular-season appearances before closing out the then-single-game Wild Card round against the Yankees that fall.