Red Sox Not Expected to Use Garrett Whitlock After Injury
Ahead of Wednesday night's matchup against the visiting Atlanta Braves, it was reported that Boston Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock is dealing with an injury.
Whitlock last pitched for the Red Sox on Sunday in a rainy series finale against the Minnesota Twins. Coming on with one out left in the top of the 6th inning, the right-hander surrendered Boston's one-run lead on two quick hits before getting a strikeout to retire the side.
The outing seemed off from the start simply for the fact that Whitlock, who normally handles the 8th inning, was called on by manager Chad Tracy so early in the game. It was even more surprising that the normally reliable veteran was unable to get his team out of the tight spot. But it turns out that an additional and even more unfortunate blow came out of the appearance.
According to reports from Christopher Smith of MassLive and Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic, Whitlock has been dealing with left knee soreness after slipping on the mound at a wet Fenway Park. The good news is that imaging on the knee has come back clean and the team does not expect him to need a stint on the IL. However, there is enough discomfort there that the Red Sox expect to stay away from using him for the next few days.
Red Sox' Garrett Whitlock has some left knee soreness after slipping on the mound Sunday when it was raining. Imaging came back clean
— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) May 27, 2026
Likely losing Whitlock for the remainder of the Atlanta series could be tough to overcome given the recent struggles in the bullpen. Some of Boston's high-leverage relievers leaked during the weekend sweep after an excellent start to the year. First, it was Justin Slaten, who followed Payton Tolle's strong start with a four-run seventh inning featuring two home runs to erase a three-run Red Sox lead. Slaten had not allowed a single earned run over nine appearances to that point in the season.
On Saturday the Twins got two earned runs in the first inning off of opener Jovani Morán, who has been exceptional in relief this year but struggled when called on to start games in front of Brayan Bello. Then it was the combination of Tyron Guerrero and Whitlock to give away Sunday's game and complete the series sweep.
It's not reasonable to expect a bullpen to be perfect all season, but the unfortunate timing of these collapses allowed some winnable games to slip away and kick off what has become a four-game losing streak. To have any hope of shaking this malaise in the near and long-term, another positive update on Whitlock later this week will be of high importance.
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This story was originally published May 27, 2026 at 5:00 PM.