Red Sox place Garrett Whitlock on the injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis
The Red Sox have placed right-hander Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis, the team announced on Friday afternoon.
The club recalled Brayan Bello from Triple-A Worcester to replace Whitlock on the 26-man roster.
Whitlock initially began the season on the injured list as he was recovering from right hip arthroscopy. He has made three starts for Boston this season, allowing 11 runs in 16 innings (6.19 ERA), a 1.38 WHIP and opponents are batting .311 against him.
Whitlock spoke to reporters following the news of his latest injury and while he was tight-lipped, he doesn’t seem too worried about missing much time.
“We’re not concerned with it being anything like Tommy John,” Whitlock said. “So we’re not really worried about the ligament at this point.”
The 26-year-old righty has had elbow issues in the past, undergoing Tommy John surgery in 2019 while in the Yankees organization.
Manager Alex Cora seems hopefully that Whitlock will not miss a lot of time.
“Obviously we’ve got to see how he reacts,” Cora said Friday at Fenway Park. “People react different to different treatments. Hopefully, it’s something that’s only two (starts) and then he’ll be back. But obviously we’ve got to be cautious.”
Whitlock said that he first experienced the issue a couple of side sessions ago prior to his start against the Brewers.
“He was able to pitch through it but in the last one, Bushy (pitching coach Dave Bush) noticed it and he stopped him,” Cora said. “There’s no need to push right now. Probably if it’s later in the season, he’ll push through it but right now it doesn’t make any sense.”
The Georgia native told reporters that it’s difficult to describe the pain in his arm.
“It’s kind of hard to describe if you’ve never felt it before,” Whitlock said.
He was asked if he had a tingling feeling down his arm into his hand, he replied, “Yeah, I guess that’s a good way of kind of describing it.”
Whitlock hasn’t had an MRI on his elbow and according to the team, there isn’t one planned as of now.
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