Red Sox Star Hurler Sustains Elbow Injury Amid Slew Of Injuries For Pitching Staff

Boston loses a key contributor to the rotation

Scott Neville | Apr 28, 2023

Red Sox Star Hurler Sustains Elbow Injury Amid Slew Of Injuries For Pitching Staff /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox will be without one of the most prominent members of the rotation for the second time of the young season.

The Red Sox placed right-hander Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list Friday due to elbow ulnar neuritis (retroactive to April 25), the club announced.

All parties appear convinced that his ailment is not serious and he will be able to return in short order -- but his exact diagnosis raises concern for Tommy John surgery.

Fortunately, Whitlock himself said the injury felt nothing like what he felt in 2019 -- when he had Tommy John surgery.

Whitlock joins a long line of injured pitchers that include: James Paxton, Chris Martin, Joely Rodríguez, Wyatt Mills and Zack Kelly.

The 26-year-old missed Opening Day recovering from hip surgery and will now miss at least another couple of turns through the rotation. Between injuries pilling up and his adjustment to his new role as a starter, Whitlock has been far less productive for Boston in the last two seasons.

Whitlock is 1-2 with a 6.19 ERA, 11-to-3 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .311 batting average against and 1.38 WHIP in 16 innings across three starts this season.

Still, he remains one of the most intriguing options in the pitching staff and arguably is the most likely to become a frontline starter.

More MLB: Red Sox Sign Ex-Angels Hurler To Bolster Pitching Depth For 2023 Season

Published Apr 28, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu