The Red Sox announced today that right-hander Garrett Whitlock has been placed on the 15-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis. Fellow righty Brayan Bello was recalled to take his spot on the active roster.
The club didn’t provide any more information about Whitlock’s injury, so the severity isn’t publicly known at this time. It’s possible that they are still doing more testing, as ulnar neuritis comes with a wide range of possible outcomes. The ulnar nerve is commonly known as the “funny bone” due to the tingling sensation it causes when agitated. Neuritis is the medical term for when there is inflammation of the nerve.
It’s too early to draw conclusions but the diagnosis is nonetheless concerning. Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs was recently diagnosed with ulnar neuritis and just a few days later was reported to require Tommy John surgery. That’s not to say that Whitlock is inevitably headed down the same path, as Blue Jays right-hander Jordan Romano was diagnosed with the same ailment in April of 2021 but was back after just 10 days.
Whitlock already had Tommy John surgery back in 2019 but said he isn’t concerned he’s headed down that path again. He told reporters, including Alex Speier of the Boston Globe, he felt some tingling recently but doesn’t think it’s at all similar to his torn UCL from years ago. He’s hasn’t had an MRI yet.
That’s surely encouraging, but Whitlock and the Red Sox will be in wait-and-see mode until it can be discovered exactly which part of the spectrum his injury is on. He’s attempting to make the transition to full-time starting this year after working primarily in relief for the past two seasons. He began the year on the injured list after being delayed in spring by last year’s hip surgery. He’s only made three starts on the year so far because of that, registering a 6.19 ERA in that small sample.
He posted a 1.96 ERA out of the bullpen in 2021 after being plucked from the Yankees in the Rule 5 draft. That instilled enough confidence in the club that they signed him to an $18.75MM extension through 2026 with two club options after that. They then tried to stretch him out last year but injuries eventually pushed him back into the bullpen.
Whitlock was scheduled to start tomorrow’s game but that will now presumably fall to Bello, who just started for the big league club on Sunday. The young prospect is seen as a future building block of the rotation but has posted a 9.82 ERA in his two starts so far this year. Both Bello and Whitlock began the year on the IL and the club briefly ran out a six-man rotation when they returned but Bello was sent down earlier this week. He’d normally have to stay down for 15 days after being optioned but an exception is made when another player goes on the IL.
It’s possible that it could be another short stay in the rotation for Bello alongside Chris Sale, Nick Pivetta, Tanner Houck and Corey Kluber. Lefty James Paxton has been on the IL all year but has made four rehab starts already as he tries to get back into game shape. He’s only made six major league starts since the end of 2019, with Tommy John surgery wiping out most of his 2021. He was working his way back to the mound in 2022 when he suffered a lat strain that killed his chances. His subsequent attempt at a return this spring was set back by a hamstring injury.
Eugh. Really bad news for Whitlock, especially with his Tommy John history. Ulnar neuritis isn’t a big deal on its own, but what happened with Springs gives me a bad feeling
rois – Excellent point, I was just gonna mention one of the main reasons Cashman left him exposed to the Rule 5 was because of Whitlock’s TJS and other medical history.
This is also why he was strictly a reliever in his first season with the Red Sox.
This is also why he eagerly accepted a 4-year $19M contract extension. Bloom obviously didn’t care about his medical history.
Well I said Bello would be back soon as an injury replacement, and here he is!
Not trying to make this another tired Bloom-bashing rant. That extension was still a great move for the team even if Whit is a bit fragile
Locking Whitlock up was a no-brainer.
rois – Do you feel the same way about the Sale extension and Eovaldi contract? The Bloom suckups have constantly bashed Dombrowski for those two signings, but Bloom himself is responsible for acquiring far more players with existing health issues. He seems to have a fetish for injured players … Story, Mondesi, Martin, Paxton, Schwarber, Whitlock, Duvall, Wacha, Hill, etc.
No, because they’re paying Sale $30M and Whitlock $5M. The risk/reward balance isn’t remotely the same.
roiste – One huge difference you apparently don’t realize, Whitlock was not eligible for free agency like the others were (Eovaldi) or would have been (Sale).
You think the Sox somehow got a “bargain” because Whitlock’s contract was so much smaller compared to Sale.
What you don’t realize, Whitlock’s 4-year extension was a buyout of his final pre-arbitration year and all three arbitration years. Which means he would have likely earned only the minimum salary this year ($720K) and his 3 arbitration years likely wouldn’t have been much if he pitched poorly, was often injured, or pitched very few innings.
Fact is, Bloom took a big chance with Whitlock’s extension based on one healthy and productive season as a reliever. It was not the “brilliant” move that some people rushed to make it out to be. Time will tell if it was a good decision.
Especially just having battled back from the hip issues. At least he locked in a bit of security with his extension, had that not happened he’d be worse off
And as Casey kassem would say….The hits just keep on coming… good grief…..
olmtiant – I think it was Casey Fossum that said it, every time he pitched.
FPG!!!! You’re killing me !!! Lol!!!!
Should’ve kept him in the bullpen. There is no way a correlation between injury and him starting, but having Whitlock start has just created bad omen over bad omen.
Why can’t we just leave him in the pen and try not to fix what ain’t broke?
Because a good starting pitcher is worth way more to a team than a reliever. Period.
A player on the IL is worth less than a reliever. Period.
And it’s beyond simple minded to think that he is on the IL because he was working as a starting pitcher.
So tell us oh wise one, why he is on the IL? It couldn’t be the fact that in the last 15 days he threw more pitches than he did in the last 6 weeks of last season. And than in any 30-day period of his career. Of course not, because the all-knowing peonken67 said so. Cut us some slack. After his last start his manager said that his arm was fatigued, that he was suffering from dead arm. Now he is on the IL.
@kingken67 it’s simple minded to not read my post accurately, which clearly says “no correlation.”
But moving a pitcher around and not giving him consistency in one role can hurt his role.
Can you draw us a direct link to the number of pitches and the injury? Is there a reputable reporter saying that ‘starting instead of relieving’ caused this? No and No. Just internet speculation. Got it.
My comment directed at websoul, not bloom’s.
I wonder if they’d consider stretching Winckowski back out instead of using Bello. Winck has been so good in the bullpen for them though that they might prefer to keep him there.
mostly – The Sox can’t afford to have a starting pitcher in the rotation going 2-3 innings a start for a couple months, which Winck would need to do in order to get stretched out.
BTW – Have you seen how well Strahm has been pitching? In 5 starts he has a 2.31 ERA and 0.851 WHIP. Again we have to ask, why didn’t Bloom realize how good Strahm could be as a starter? Why did he have to go somewhere else to get the opportunity? And he’s making considerably less than Kluber this year.
@Fever
Since Winckowski has really only been a RP for a month now, I don’t think it would take too long to stretch him out. He got SP reps in ST and prior to this year 95/105 appearances in MiLB/MLB were as a starter. Basically that SP5 spot was between him and Crawford heading into opening day. That being said, I still see him just sticking in the bullpen unless things get dire.
And yeah, you will not find me defending most of the Sox’s moves. I liked some of the signings on the fielding side while others booed them, but the pitching management has been a mess and they let too many potential starters just leave. Seabold and Ward were depth pieces they could have leaned on.
Fever: How long can Strahm keep this up? He hasn’t thrown close to 100 innings in a season since 2019.
What do you mean? I thought we just threw out career stats and judged players purely by what they did in April?
suit – I think when Ranger Suarez returns, Strahm might go back to the pen.
But to answer your question, he was stretched out in ST and therefore should be good for 150 or so. He had 22 starts with the Padres, so he’s no stranger to starting.
Strahm had been saying before he came to Boston that he wanted to start. Someone finally listened. Pretty inexpensive rotation guy.
The most innings Strahm has pitched since 2019 is 44.2 last year and his performance declined as the year went on. He has 23.1 so far this year. I think he will hit a wall before too long. Let’s see what happens.
“The most innings Strahm has pitched since 2019”
2020 was covid season, and Strahm was on pace exceed 44 innings, but was limited by the shortened season. So, in other words he pitched more innings in 2022 than 2021, when he was injured — So what?
How many innings can Strahm be expected to pitch this year? I think he will likely burn himself out early based on his innings pitched in recent years.
2020 was covid year. 2021 he was injured, 2022 he built up his workload. He should be good to go in 2023. They should handle him with kit gloves because of the transition, but Id say 120-160 innings.
Traditionally his best ERAs have come in Aug and Sept, so Im not sure why he’d hit a wall this year:
ERAs for Aug and Sept 2018 thru 2022 (excluding injured 2021)
2018 – 2.57, 0.82
2019 – 1.93, 2.45
2020 – 1.46, 3.86
2021 – injured
2022 – 2.25, 4.50
His ERAs for the earlier months have generally worse numbers. But, if theres a pattern, he seems to hit the skids in June, July before picking it back up in August.
I just dont see a reason he cant handle it whether starter or reliever.
suit – He was barely used last year.
Only 4 innings in July & August
Only 7 innings in April & May
But if you really want to go month by month with such small sample sizes, his peripherals are all over the place.
August and Sept/Oct were arguably his best months, with a .143 BAA in August and .192 in Sept/Oct.
But again, trying to judge his performance when he averaged less than an inning a week for two months seems kinda a waste of time.
Safe to say he was the only solid reliever last year not named Schreiber, correct?
suit – Looking at his career with over 300 IP, his second half numbers are MUCH better than his first half numbers.
4.28 ERA 1st Half
2.85 ERA 2nd Half
Across the board his numbers are better in the 2nd Half … WHIP, BAA, OPS, SO/9, SO/BB
August is easily his best month … 1.99 ERA, 0.963 WHIP.
Fever: My confidence in Strahm declined as the year went on last year. I believe his ERA went from very good to ok as the year went on, but I don’t know where to find that. That is not my main point and I don’t care if I am wrong about that. My main point is I don’t see Strahm lasting long as a starting pitcher due to him throwing a low amount of innings the last 3 years. I doubt he will throw more than 100 innings which would more than double last year’s workload. He is averaging less than 5 innings per start this year, so maybe that will help him last in the rotation (while stressing the bullpen).
suit – I’m happy to provide the source of my monthly stats.
baseball-reference.com/players/split.fcgi?id=strah…
You may not realize Strahm was injured last July (wrist contusion) which contributed to his lack of use in July & August, and it did negatively impact his performance in September/October.
If he stays in the rotation the remainder of the year, I think he could definitely go over 100 innings. … provided he stays healthy of course.
As always, time will tell.
Fever: Strahm is putting innings on his arm at a much faster pace than any of the past 3 years, so it will be interesting to see what happens. I would have stayed a reliever if I was him. I think he is increasing his injury risk. A minimally acceptable starting pitcher who stays in the rotation all year should pitch about 150 innings (30 starts X 5 innings per start) in my opinion. We could drop this expectation to 125 innings (25 starts X 5 innings per start). A good starting pitcher goes deeper into games and winds up pitching 150-180 innings over the season if he averages 6 innings per start. If Strahm continues to average less than 5 innings per start, we should probably call him an opener instead of a starting pitcher…or something in between an opener and a starter.
suit – I agree with your last sentence, however he’s pitched 5 or more innings in 3 of his last 4 games. I think he will continue to go deeper in games if he continues to start.
Winck has been so good in the bullpen for them though that they might prefer to keep him there.
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I agree, same with Whitlock and Houck. I see no harm trying them as starters when you need a #6, but all three of those guys have done their best work out of the BP. But the sample sizes re too small to draw many conclusions.
Quit hanging around Greak people like that Neuritis clan!!
Next thing you know, he’ll have to see his dentist since he’s been dating that Ginger Vitis chick!
Holy Papadopoulos, she’s been seen in Baltimore, with Angelos!
The Red Sox should be found guilty of medical malpractice for their treatment of Whitlock. As punishment it would only be fair for them to return him to the Yankees
You have a meaningless season so losing Whitlock simply means next young gun up!!
No reason to alter plans. Whitlock is a known commodity. We have plenty that are not that well known so give another young gun a shot to see if he longs like a long term keeper. I still like the idea of putting Kluber as the long relief guy so you maximize the young guns testing. It can only help make 2024 better by knowing who has the potential and who doesn’t. We know Sale, Kluber, Pivetta, Houck and Whitlock so now we need to lock down a knowledge of the other young guns.
People need to concede this season so long term actions become the norm not the exception.
KD – Great post! I see where you’re coming from, but I still think the playoff race will be the Battle of the Healthiest. Can you imagine if Rodon, Montas, Severino, Stanton, Bader, Donaldson, Kahnle and Judge are done for the year?
Sox have payroll flexibility to make some midseason upgrades, let’s see how it pans out.
FPG – Payroll flexibility is an interesting concept. Today Boston has money that could take them to the CAP which scares me because Bloom exceeded the CAP for a 5th place 78 win team. NY has no concept of the CAP so if everyone you mention on the Yankees got hurt my belief is they would exceed the CAP to whatever degree they needed to for the team to be successful and make the playoffs. Worst case all are out for a long time and they finish 5th. Based on the rest of the league Boston would still have at least 3 teams ahead of them in the wildcard race.
Mid season upgrades. Bloom. Does his history suggest that he will pick a smart choice that is needed OR will he settle on what’s left after all the good teams pillage the available players in an attempt to not be booed by the Red Sox fans. Remember, that’s how we got our 3rd DH named Schwarber. It wasn’t strategic it was a “calm the restless nation” move.
You sipped the cool-aid!! 🙂 This team lacks talent to be a playoff team. They still have an inept GM. And of course an inept manager who will play the wrong guy at the wrong position at the wrong time.
Sorry for the reality check but it seems like you needed it.
KD – Great post!! Yeah I’m trying to remain positive, thing is there’s just not that many really good teams in the league.
Other than Tampa, Toronto and maybe Baltimore and Houston, everyone else looks worse or not much better than our Red Sox.
Speaking of Yankees: Nathan Eovaldi just pitched a Complete Game 3-hit 0-Walk 8-Strikeout Shutout against them!! And on 113 pitches!
Where are all the Nate haters now?
Ya know, the ones who said Nate is too old & not a workhorse & can’t pitch effectively third time through a lineup blah blah blah.
In time the Bloom suckups always get proven wrong!
FPG – Don’t count the Yankees out. They have deep pockets and a willingness to spend. If the Mets do well the Yankees will have even more pressure on them to spend or trade prospects for good players. Don’t be surprised if they make a high profile deal before the end of May.
To me, I like TOR, TB, BAL and NYY in the AL East over Boston. I like CLE, MIN more in the AL Central. I like TX, HOU, SEA and LAA more in the AL West. 10th place means no wild card. And even if I’m wrong about one or two or even three, still no wild card.
KD – With all the impact Yankee players on the IL right now, I think they are basically a .500 team. I don’t envision any May trades, it’s very rare to have a big impact trade prior to June. Contenders are still assessing what they have, and non-contenders don’t like to throw in the towel that early because it really hurts future revenue.
The Yankees are trying to reign in their spending too. Even though they are in dire need of at least two starting pitchers, they’ve done nothing to address the issue nor have they addressed the LF situation. I really think the health of Judge, Stanton and Rodon will have a huge impact on what direction they take in the coming months.
We already have 2 last places the past 3 years. how many more years do we have to rebuild?
Randy – Bloom was so bad at his job it took him 3 years to dismantle the championship team!!! Most GMs could do it in one so the rebuild starts in year 2. Not Bloom he’s starting the rebuild in year 4 if he is here and hopefully he is not because he’s so incredibly slow at making things happen it might not even start in 2024. He may just shuffle the deck again and see what new cards he can play that don’t cost much but MIGHT have a good year.
This is the perfect time to dump Bloom because they play a very tough part of their schedule in the next few series and could fall far below .500 like they did last year. Cross your fingers, we need a change.
KD – I appreciate your positive thinking, but Bloom will absolutely not be let go until after the trade deadline. And the Guardians gifted them a win today!
How ’bout our two B-Boys, Bleier and Brasier? If Jansen’s back really flares up causing him to go on the IL then the bullpen is screwed!
FPG – For every day the owners wait they add two days to how long it will take to recover from what he’s done. Let’s hope a brutal month of May finishes him.
Who is next if needed? I’d vote Mata
Have you Mata’s M.L stats? 3 bb’s and 4 HBP in the same game followed by 5 BB’s the next start.
Randy – Mata’s sample size is small enough to ignore. Give him time to make adjustments and see if he can handle it. Lots of pitchers get beat up and then learn and improve and end up great. Same with hitters. A slow start happens all the time to both the good and the not so good.
Mike Trout came up on July 8th 2011 and was still hitting under .200 on August 21st. It happens. Eventually, he figured it out. If someone took a month of bad games and said send him back down, who knows what might have happened.
He’s just one guy. There are lots of big name stars who struggled so lets cut the kid some slack and give him a chance to prove himself. It’s not like the team is going to make the playoffs. This is the perfect time for a tryout for the future rotation.
That’s probably why he had TJS? Have some patience.
Perhaps we are getting close to seeing Paxton.?? Mata needs a little more time to show whether he’s ready. The trade deadline is still 2 months away, plenty of time for Sale, Paxton, and Kluber to turn things around and become valuable commodities to a contender.
mad – You must not have heard, Paxton has been brutal in the minors.
He has a 10.32 ERA in Worcester, it’s gonna take him a while to shake off almost 4 years of rust.
Breath holding time in Fenway. A lengthy absence of Whitlock, regardless of his role would be a terrible blow
Nooooooooo ! Curse of Chaim, could always sign mad bum, whens Patriots 1st practice …
If Bloom survives the season, the Grim Reaper is going to be seated front row every game next year while waving his season ticket
DBH – We really should have a Bloom Firing Pool, where we pick the month and year.
I’ve got September 2023.
FPG – I’ve got MAY 1 2023!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
KD – Duly noted!!!
You do realize May 1 is tomorrow, right? Haha!
But you can have the entire month of May ;O)
First day of the off-season. Henry will give him the chance to work the deadline.
Bonus pick…Cora survives until end of 2024