BOSTON -- Playing in slick and muddy conditions in Sunday’s 6-5 loss to the Twins, Red Sox ace setup man Garrett Whitlock paid the price and is day to day with a hyperextended left knee.
“First warmup pitch on Sunday, obviously, the conditions were super wet, I kind of slipped and hyperextended my knee and everything,” Whitlock said. “We’re just dealing with soreness and kind of take it day by day and go from there.”
Whitlock was unavailable in Tuesday’s loss and was coy when asked if he could pitch Wednesday. But it seems all but certain he won’t. The last thing the Red Sox would want is to risk further injury to one of their most important players.
“Obviously, I'm going to give it everything I can, but yeah, it's still pretty sore,” Whitlock said.
One of the most consistent strengths of the Red Sox this season has been the combo of Justin Slaten, Whitlock and closer Aroldis Chapman.
It is likely Slaten will get the eighth inning until Whitlock returns.
“Obviously, it's a challenge with the middle relief being where it's at, but as of now, yeah, we’ve just got to keep assessing and see where he’s at,” said Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy.
Whitlock underwent an MRI earlier this week, which revealed no structural damage.
“Luckily, no structural damage, like no ligament or anything like that. So I’m just kind of trying to get everything out of it now,” Whitlock said.
The hope is that Whitlock doesn’t need to go on the 15-day injured list.
“We're trying to do everything we can [to avoid that],” Whitlock said. “They're saying like, ‘Let's treat it [as a] day by day kind of thing right now. We're just going to kind of go like that.”
The injury explains why Whitlock looked so shaky on Sunday, allowing two hits and a run while getting just one out.
“Honestly, I got pretty sped-up just because it was on the very first [warmup] pitch, and then I was like, ‘Man, that didn't feel good.’ And it was just kind of in my head,” Whitlock said. “And then I saw the clock going. I was like, 'Oh, they didn't stop it. I need to keep throwing.' And so, yeah, like, I probably should have taken some time to be like, 'All right, slow things down.' But you know, that's part of it. You're just trying to compete and everything. I'm never going to make excuses.”