BOSTON — Red Sox’s Garrett Whitlock (elbow bone bruise) pitched a two-inning live batting practice at Fenway Park on Saturday.
“He was good,” manager Alex Cora said. “Velo was up. The shape of the pitches were good. So we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and then we’ll decide what we do next week.”
Cora said Whitlock’s two-seam fastball was at 93-94 mph. It has averaged 93.6 mph this season, per Baseball Savant.
“That’s live BP. He could be throwing 88 and it’s not a big deal,” Cora said. “For me, that thing is more about repetitions than anything else. Chris (Sale) was throwing 86 in his up and down a few weeks ago here and he hit 96 mph (in his first rehab start). It’s hard. It’s hard — the effort level. But with him, it seems like the effort level was there. So we’ll see how he reacts tomorrow.”
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The righty has been on the 15-day injured list since July 4. He also missed 27 games earlier this season while on the IL with right elbow ulnar neuritis. All of Whitlock’s 10 appearances this season have been starts. But the Red Sox likely will use him as a reliever when he returns from the IL.
“There’s a good chance we’ll use him the way we did in 2021, multiple-inning reliever,” Cora said Friday.
Other Red Sox injury updates
~ Trevor Story will serve as the DH for Triple-A Worcester on Saturday, then will play shortstop Sunday. “We’ll reassess the situation on Monday and see where we’re at,” Cora said.
Story’s 20-day rehab clock expires Wednesday, then the Red Sox have 48 hours to activate him.
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~ Tanner Houck (facial fracture) will make a rehab start Saturday for Worcester at Syracuse. He likely will make two more rehab appearances next week.
~ Chris Sale, who suffered a stress reaction in his scapula bone (shoulder blade) in June, will make his second rehab start Sunday for Worcester at Syracuse. “We’ll see how Chris feels after Sunday,” Cora said Friday. “There’s a good chance he’ll be with us sooner rather than later.”
