Red Sox place Garrett Whitlock on IL with elbow issue; veteran recalled to roster

TORONTO — The Red Sox are taking no chances when it comes to Garrett Whitlock’s elbow injury — and are summoning a veteran reliever to Toronto to take his place on the roster Thursday.

Boston has placed Whitlock on the 15-day injured list due to inflammation in his pitching elbow and recalled Greg Weissert from Triple-A Worcester, sources confirmed Thursday. Late Wednesday, interim manager Chad Tracy revealed that Whitlock was unavailable to pitch in a close game because he was dealing with discomfort in his arm.

It’s unclear how long Whitlock would be sidelined. After Wednesday’s loss, the setup man said the elbow issue had been “building” for weeks and reached a terminal point when he was warming up in the bullpen Tuesday night.

Whitlock, who had Tommy John surgery in 2019 and an internal brace procedure on his elbow in 2024, said his level of concern over a serious injury is relatively low.

“It was kinda gradually getting that way and it’s getting to a pretty good point (of discomfort),” Whitlock said.

“I don’t think there’s anything structurally wrong with it,” he added. “Obviously, I’m sure there’s probably a lot of inflammation in there. My concern for need of any drastic measures is very low.”

Whitlock has had another stellar season as Boston’s eighth-inning arm. He has logged a 2.05 ERA in 45 games (44 innings) while striking out 49 batters and walking seven. In his absence, the Red Sox will likely use righties Tyron Guerrero and Justin Slaten and lefty newcomer Erik Miller as the primary setup options ahead of closer Aroldis Chapman.

Weissert was demoted to the WooSox late last week as part of a roster crunch with the Red Sox in need of a fresh bullpen arm after using every pitcher on the roster in a 13-inning win over the White Sox. The righty has had an up-and-down season in which he has logged a 3.97 ERA in 45 ⅓ innings over a team-leading 48 games.

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Weissert has not pitched for Worcester since being sent down. Because he was only in Triple-A for seven days, he did not burn an option for this season. That could prove noteworthy next year as the Red Sox might be able to send him down freely throughout the season.

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