Garrett Whitlock is headed to the IL with a minor oblique strain
The Red Sox are placing right-handed pitcher Garrett Whitlock on the injured list with a left oblique strain. The team will recall left-handed reliever Joe Jacques from Triple-A Worcester.
Whitlock was removed from the Red Sox 10-7 loss to the Guardians in the fourth inning after throwing just 54 pitches.
“I just had some tightness in my oblique, and they just felt like a precautionary move was to pull me out,” said Whitlock postgame to reporters. “I felt a little something in the third inning, but that was it.”
The Red Sox plan to shut Whitlock down from throwing for a few days.
“This one is not difficult,” Alex Cora said to reporters on Wednesday. “He kinda fought it because of that. I was like, ‘You don’t have to prove to people you can stay healthy because of that. This is on us.’ We’re actually taking it away from his hands. It’s early enough that it doesn’t make sense to push him. Something worse might happen.
“We’ll take care of him the next, hopefully, 15 days, and he’ll be ready.”
The loss of Whitlock is yet another blow to a depleted Red Sox roster. The club has been without Nick Pivetta with a right elbow flexor strain, Tyler O’Neill is still reeling from his collision with Rafael Devers on Monday. The All-Star third baseman has been dealing with shoulder and knee soreness.
The injuries continue to pile up and putting a strain on the roster.
“It’s tough, man. It sucks,” said closer Kenley Jansen. “I’m not going to lie to you. It’s annoying. And that’s how it’s going for us lately. A healthy Boston Red Sox is a pretty good team.
“But right now, there’s nothing we can do about it. Hopefully, we can get healthy soon. I like what we have. It’s a young team with talent. They love to play baseball and try to win ballgames. You can see how we came back today, showed fight. Yeah, if everyone is healthy, [it would be] great for us.”
Jacques joins the Red Sox for the first time this season. Through four outings with the WooSox, the southpaw owns a 15.75 ERA with seven strikeouts over four innings.
