Red Sox option down Greg Weissert

Weissert was optioned on Friday but can return right away, with Garrett Whitlock (elbow) heading to the IL. Weissert has a 3.97 ERA in 41 1/3 innings this year for Boston.

The Red Sox used Aroldis Chapman and Garrett Whitlock in regulation, so Weissert was handed the 10th and wound up with his sixth career save in 207 relief appearances. He’s been plagued by inconsistency this season, which is why he was mostly used with the Red Sox down in games early on. However, with the team streaking, he’s managed three wins and now a save while making all 10 of his appearances in victories this month.

Weissert threw 28 pitches in all after bailing out Joe La Sorsa in the eighth. Boston’s setup man has struck out five in 3 1/3 scoreless innings during the tournament.

With nothing to play for in terms of seeding, the Red Sox didn’t need to turn to Aroldis Chapman in this one, so they let Weissert come on and close it out. He struck out Javier Báez to start the inning then made things a bit more interesting by issuing a one-out walk to Trey Sweeney and an infield single to Andy Ibanez to put the tying run in scoring position. He battled back though to strike out Jake Rogers before retiring Parker Meadows on a fly ball to left field to end it. Weissert wraps up his regular season with a 2.82 ERA over 67 innings while securing four saves and six victories.

The Red Sox had to use Aroldis Chapman on back-to-back nights because Isaiah Campbell was unable to close out a 7-2 lead on Saturday, so the closer was unavailable on Sunday. That proved to be huge as Weissert was used against the bottom of the Marlins order and quickly gave up a solo home run to Dane Myers and then a wingle to Eric Wagaman before Steven Matz came in and gave up a two-run home run to lose them the game.

Weissert was brought in to get the final out of the sixth and then stayed for the seventh, which opened with a single, an error, a walk and then a Christian Encarnacion-Strand grand slam. That still wasn’t enough to get Weissert lifted, though, and he wound up allowing one more run on a double and a single before being removed with two outs. Weissert came into this one with a 2.84 ERA and had seemingly emerged as a No. 2 option in the Red Sox pen with Justin Slaten down, something that seems worth paying attention to since Aroldis Chapman could be traded this month. However, this is a setback, and he also has some new competition in the form of Jordan Hicks, though Hicks also gave up three runs — one earned — while getting two outs tonight.

As they’ve done on occasion, the Red Sox played matchups today, with Chapman getting the tougher eighth-inning assignment. He retired Dylan Moore, Julio Rodríguez and Cal Raleigh in order then. Weissert walked Randy Arozarena with one out in the ninth, but he then got Dominic Canzone to hit into a double play to end the game.

It’s the second save of the season for Weissert. He came in to protect a two-run cushion, so a fielder’s choice off the bat of Anthony Volpe that scored Paul Goldschmidt didn’t hurt the Red Sox; just Weissert’s ERA. It seems unlikely he’ll get many more save chances, but that’s two in the last week.

Chapman worked the previous three days, making him due for at least one day off. Garrett Whitlock, who threw scoreless seventh and eighth innings, and Weissert picked up the Red Sox tonight after a tough one Monday. Weissert has a 2.67 ERA though 30 1/3 innings. Along with the save, he’s earned 11 holds in 32 appearances. He’d recorded seven holds in 91 career relief appearances coming into 2025.

Chapman got a quick visit from the trainer in the middle of the outing, but he continued without making any warmup throws. If he did tweak something, it didn’t seem to be an arm issue. The Red Sox could ill afford to lose him anyway, but that’s especially the case after they already put Justin Slaten on the IL today. Greg Weissert is probably next in line for saves ahead of Garrett Whitlock.