The Red Sox shared some positive news on Garrett Whitlock prior to their three-game series opener against the Rangers from Fenway Park.
Whitlock had an MRI on Monday that revealed the right-hander has a bone bruise and no structural damage, Alex Cora said to reporters on Tuesday.
“Bone bruise, so now it’s just about getting treatment, all that stuff,” said Cora to reporters. “We’ll assess the situation next week and obviously no timetable, but for how bad it looked or whatever people were thinking ligament-wise and all that stuff, this is kind of like the closest thing to good news.”
Boston placed him on the 15-day injured list and recalled left-hander Brandon Walter and right-hander Tayler Scott from Triple-A Worcester. James Paxton was also added to the Paternity List, opening up the other roster spot to allow the Sox to add two pitchers.
The 27-year-old left his start on Sunday against the Blue Jays after just working one inning. Whitlock was initially diagnosed with right elbow stiffness. He told reporters after the game that he had been “dealing with” his elbow feeling stiff before his start.
“It just flared up and now we just gotta make sure we take care of him,” Cora explained. "We just have to see how he reacts in the next few days and we’ll map it out and hopefully like I said, he’s back with us soon.”
This would be his third stint on the injured list this season. His last came when he missed 27 games for right ulnar neuritis. “This doesn’t feel very nervy,” Whitlock said. “So it’s not really like that.”
Following Whitlock’s MRI on Monday, it was initially reported that the club wasn’t considering his injury to be a major setback for the righty.
The Sox will need to piecework their rotation together as they limp toward the All-Star break.
Losing Whitlock for any extended period of time is not ideal for the Sox. Boston already has Chris Sale and Tanner Houck on the IL. Sale is unable to return until August due to being transferred to the 60-day IL and Houck’s status remains up in the air following surgery on his face.
Houck will need to build arm strength back before he can be a viable candidate to rejoin the Red Sox’ rotation.
Walter and Scott will provide depth this week but once Paxton returns from Paternity Leave, Scott is the likely odd-man out.
Boston has just three health starters in Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford and Paxton with the other two spots in the rotation being filled by relievers.
Josh Winckowski, Nick Pivetta and Chris Murphy can give the Sox bulk innings leading up to the All-Star break. The Red Sox will get four much-needed days off during the break and will reset the rotation for the second half of the season.
One name to not rule out is Dinelson Lamet, who was signed last week after he was released by the Rockies. The 30-year-old was assigned to Triple-A Worcester and has not yet appeared in a game. He is currently on the development list, which is used for players needing to work on things while remaining with the organization but not occupying a roster spot.
Cora said last week that Lamet needs to work on regaining his fastball.
“We’re trying to get his fastball back,” Cora said. “That’s the most important thing. The velocity’s there but the characteristics of it are not there. We feel like we can make some adjustments with the off-speed pitches. He sees an opportunity here to go to Triple-A and get better and see what happens in the upcoming weeks or months in our situation and get back to the big leagues.”
Lamet isn’t a true consideration for the rotation until after the All-Star break and the Sox can take a hard look at him in game action for the WooSox. He is expected to be used as a starting pitcher.
