Whitlock to the IL, but Devers OK to play
Rafael Devers texted Red
Sox manager Alex Cora
Wednesday morning and indicated he was OK to play after tweaking his knee in Tuesday’s game. Devers was in the lineup against the Guardians as the DH and went 0 for 4 with three strikeouts in the Sox’ 2-0 win..
However, the Sox couldn’t totally escape the injury bug, placing Garrett Whitlock on the 15-day injured list late Wednesday afternoon.
The Sox removed Whitlock from Tuesday’s game because of tightness in his left oblique after just four innings and 54 pitches.
“I felt a little something in the third inning and that was it,” Whitlock said after the game.
Whitlock has pitched well this season, going 1-0 with a 1.96 ERA in four starts. Yet health has always been a question mark for Whitlock. But the Sox don’t see his latest injury as a big issue, considering he’s dealt with elbow/arm injuries — including Tommy John surgery — throughout his career.
“This [injury] is not difficult,” Cora said before Wednesday’s game. “I mean, actually, he fought us and I was like, you don’t have to prove to people that you can stay healthy. This is on us. We actually took it away from his hands. It’s early enough that it doesn’t make sense to push him then something worse might happen.”
Head athletic trainer Brandon Henry initially noticed Whitlock grinding through Tuesday’s start. That’s when he urged Cora that he needed to pull Whitlock from the game.
“He’s like, ‘We’ve got to take him out,’ ” added Cora. “And then today, Brandon was on point with what thought it was, and he recommended this.”
The Sox don’t believe Whitlock will need more than the minimum amount of days before returning.
Lefthander Joe Jacques was recalled from Triple A Worcester to fill the roster spot vacated by Whitlock.
Rotation shuffle
The Sox are now down two starting pitchers in Nick Pivetta (elbow) and Whitlock. Cora ruled out Josh Winckowski joining the rotation, preferring the righthander remain in the bullpen.
“We’ll see how it goes in the upcoming days,” said Cora. “We’ve got an offday right after Pittsburgh, so the schedule is going to give us a blow.”
Cooper Criswell, who pitched in place of Pivetta last Saturday, plugs just one of the spots in the rotation. Pivetta, who went on the IL April 9 (retroactive April 6), could return Sunday, but he is just playing catch at this point and has yet to throw off a mound. There’s a chance he could need a rehab start, too.
Whitlock’s turn in the rotation would be Sunday. The team could employ an opener or make it a bullpen game. The
Sox could then reset their bullpen Monday, an offday.
The rotation would then turn back to Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Criswell, and Kutter Crawford, buying the Sox a bit more time.
O’Neill OK, not great
Tyler O’Neill is doing just
OK, and the team is still monitoring him for a concussion. Cora said that O’Neill, who collided with Devers on Sunday in an attempt to catch a fly ball, had difficulty getting through a workout Wednesday.
“I want to say not great, but not bad,” said Cora. “He’s like in between. So we’ll keep checking on him. Nothing baseball-related. He’ll stay inside and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow.”
Injury scare
Devers looked distraught after Tuesday’s game while seated at his locker. Almost in disbelief as if he knew something occurred in his left knee other than regular soreness.
That Devers played Wednesday, based on his emotions Tuesday night, was unexpected.
“He just got scared,” said Cora. “Hopefully, that’s the case.
We will take care of him. If he says he can play, he can play.”
The Red Sox ultimately determined that Devers didn’t require imaging on his knee, despite initially indicating that he did.
Setback for Gonzalez
Romy Gonzalez (left wrist sprain) had a setback and will undergo some imaging. Cora said that it’s tough for Gonzalez to swing . . . Rob Refsnyder (toe) will play in the outfield Thursday and DH Friday for Worcester. Refsnyder is close to a return . . . Vaughn Grissom will play second base Thursday for Worcester after being the DH in his first three games.