The Red Sox are exercising their $8.25MM club option on righty Garrett Whitlock, per Andrew Parker of SoxProspects.com. Whitlock will now officially be back in 2027 as the main bridge to closer Aroldis Chapman.
It was an easy call for the Sox to make. The 30-year-old Whitlock is coming off a second straight dominant season out of the Boston bullpen. After an internal brace procedure on his right elbow kept him out for most of 2024, Whitlock came back firing on all cylinders with a 2.25 earned run average in 72 innings in 2025. The righty’s 31.1% strikeout rate, 8.2% walk rate, and 45.1% ground ball rate were all better than average. Even more impressively, Whitlock allowed just two home runs all season, or 0.25 HR/9. That was the second-best mark in baseball among pitchers who threw at least 60 innings.
Whitlock was just as dominant this year in many respects. He lowered his ERA to 1.72 in 52 1/3 innings, and he struck out just under 30% of opponents. Although he didn’t get as many ground balls, he was quite stingy when it came to giving out free passes. Among pitchers with at least 50 innings of relief, Whitlock’s 4.5% walk rate was fourth-best, right behind Phillies closer Jhoan Duran (4.2%). FanGraphs values his 2025-26 work at 4.2 wins above replacement. That’s tied with Chapman and Twins/Blue Jays righty Louis Varland for fifth-best among qualified relievers.
A trio of injuries were responsible for Whitlock’s lower innings total this year. He missed two weeks in May and June with left knee inflammation, then two and a half weeks for right elbow inflammation in August. Whitlock allowed three earned runs while recording four outs in Game 2 of the Wild Card Series against the Yankees. After that series was over, it was revealed that Whitlock had been playing through a fractured tibia for most of September. He did not require surgery and is expected to be fully healthy by Spring Training.
With all that in mind, it’s a no-brainer for the Sox to pay Whitlock $8.25MM in 2027 and retain their $10.5MM club option over him for 2028. If he were a free agent, Whitlock would be right up there with David Bednar and Raisel Iglesias as the top righties in this year’s relief class. He would certainly make more than an $8.25MM average annual value. Instead, Whitlock is back at an affordable rate, and he stands alongside Chapman, Erik Miller, and Tyron Guerrero as Boston’s top four arms in what will hopefully be another dominant bullpen next year.
Whitlock and Sonny Gray were the Sox’ two option decisions heading into the offseason. The team declined their end of a $30MM mutual option on Gray (which he probably would have done anyway), instead paying him a $10MM buyout. Gray intends to pitch in 2027, but whether that’s with another club or on a new deal with Boston is up for debate. Meanwhile, Chapman’s deal originally included a $13MM mutual option for 2027. That option vested since Chapman pitched more than 40 innings this year and passed an end-of-season physical.
Photo courtesy of Gregory Fisher, Imagn Images
