The Boston Herald dropped a bombshell Friday, October 9: Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock was pitching through a fractured right tibia for the entire month of September, a brutal reality that only came to light after the team’s season ended. The 30-year-old right-hander, a rock in that bullpen, had been working with the Red Sox staff to manage ongoing pain in his right leg over the last month of the season. But get this, the actual cause of the pain went completely undiagnosed until he finally underwent imaging after the Red Sox got eliminated. Seriously?
Unbelievable Numbers, Until The Meltdown
Think about this: Whitlock was out there with a broken leg and still putting up ridiculous numbers. He didn’t allow a single run in eight September appearances to close out the regular season. Not one! The guy was absolutely lights out. For the whole year, he finished 7-2 with an insane 1.72 ERA in 54 appearances out of the bullpen. He even racked up four saves and posted a career-low .898 WHIP. Those stats are just bonkers for a guy playing through that kind of pain. It makes total sense why he and the team were so motivated to keep him on the mound as much as humanly possible, even with the obvious discomfort.
Then came the Game 2 of the American League wild-card series against the New York Yankees. Whitlock coughed up three runs in a relief appearance, and it looked like a total collapse out of nowhere. Now we know the real story, and it makes that wild-card performance, and honestly, his entire September, look completely different.
Big Questions For The Red Sox Staff
This whole situation raises some serious questions about the Red Sox’s medical staff and their decision-making. Gabrielle Starr reported that Whitlock worked with them to manage the pain for a month. A month! So, if he was in enough pain to need staff management, why weren’t scans performed when the pain first started? Why wait until after the season, after the elimination, to get a proper diagnosis? It’s just mind-boggling. You’ve got one of your most valuable relievers out there, since his 2021 debut, 196 of his 219 career appearances have come out of that bullpen, and he’s been playing through a legitimate fracture without anyone knowing for weeks. That’s a huge miss.
What’s Next For Whitlock?
The good news is Starr reports Whitlock will not need surgery on his leg. That’s a massive relief. He’s been a critical part of that bullpen, making his seventh career postseason appearance in that wild-card game. Whitlock’s got two team option years remaining on the contract extension he inked back in April 2022. The Red Sox owe him $8.25 million in 2027 and $10.5 million in 2028 if they pick up those options. Given the kind of performance he delivered this season, even with a fractured leg, it’s hard to imagine them not wanting him back. The focus now has to be on his full recovery and ensuring nothing like this slips through the cracks again.
This article was created with AI assistance and published under Seattle On Tap’s editorial standards. See our Editorial Policy.
Originally reported by Yahoo Sports.
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