The Red Sox may have spent much of the season on top of the bullpen leaderboard, but even after being nudged aside by the Yankees, Boston’s relief group still looks built to last.
At the center of it all are Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock, the pair that has carried the late innings for Boston over the last two years. Chapman has been vintage power stuff in 2026, posting a 2.03 ERA with a 65-to-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio across 48 2/3 innings, along with 33 saves. Whitlock has been just as sharp in his own role, turning in a 1.88 ERA and a 54-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 48 innings.
If there’s a better setup man in baseball right now, it’s hard to find him. Whitlock has been the top dog.
That’s why the expectation around Boston is pretty clear: the Red Sox are likely to bring him back for 2027. Whitlock has spent his entire six-year major league career with the club, and that run is positioned to continue.
He signed a four-year, $18.75 million deal before the 2023 season that included two club options. The 2026 season is the fourth year of that contract, and once it ends, Boston will have to decide on the first option.
If the Red Sox exercise it, Whitlock’s salary jumps to $8.25 million.
On Thursday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan added Whitlock to a list of 10 players whose club options are expected to be picked up. He was the only Red Sox player on the list. Among the other names Passan included were Ronald Acuna Jr. of the Atlanta Braves, Nick Pivetta of the San Diego Padres and Sandy Alcántara of the Miami Marlins.
For Boston, this looks like a straightforward call. Keeping Whitlock alongside Chapman would preserve one of the most effective bullpen combinations in the game, and Chapman’s own 2027 vesting option is also in play.
That option becomes guaranteed with 40 innings pitched and a passed physical at the end of the year. He has already cleared the innings mark and now just needs to pass the physical.
The Red Sox have gotten plenty out of the Chapman-Whitlock pairing at the back end of games, and all signs point to another season of that duo anchoring the bullpen.
In Other News...
Ceddanne Rafaela Update Gives Red Sox A Needed Stretch Run Boost
Ceddanne Rafaela has been on the Injured List since Sept. 2 with a right quadriceps strain, and the next step in his return is set for the Red Soxs upcoming series in Texas. The plan is for him to ramp up his running progression there, a sign that Boston is moving him closer to game action at a time when every healthy body matters.
The timing could work out well for the Red Sox, who are hoping to get him back as soon as next weekend against the Rays. If that holds, Rafaela would have roughly nine games to get back to full speed before the postseason begins, giving Boston a chance to reintroduce one of its most important defenders and athletes before October pressure arrives. [Read more 🡒]
Former Yankees Castoff Is Giving Red Sox A Timely Boost
Mickey Gaspers arrival in mid-August has given the Red Sox an unexpected lift at just the right time, and it comes with a familiar twist for this franchise. The former Yankees draft pick has quickly made his presence felt after the call-up, producing at a level that has put him near the top of the league in key offensive categories during that stretch.
It also fits a larger pattern Boston has seen before, with former Yankees players sometimes finding new life in a Red Sox uniform. Gaspers path has not been a straight line, either, as he came to Boston through the minor-league portion of the 2023 Rule 5 draft and has already traveled through trades and waiver claims along the way, making this latest burst feel like another notable turn in a career that has taken plenty of detours. [Read more 🡒]
Red Sox Suddenly Face A New Worry With Kristian Campbell
Kristian Campbell had started to look like one of the more obvious next-man-up candidates in the Red Sox system, especially with recent performance building and the big-league outfield thinned by injuries. His name had moved into the conversation for a promotion as Boston looked for help, and that alone made him a player worth tracking closely as the season pushed forward.
Now the focus has shifted for a different reason. Campbell was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Worcester with a left foot contusion, which makes an immediate call-up unlikely and introduces a new layer of uncertainty to his path. For a Red Sox club already dealing with outfield instability, the pause is a frustrating one, because the potential solution was just starting to come into view. [Read more 🡒]