The Boston Red Sox exercised the one-year, $8.25-million contract option on right-hander Garrett Whitlock, the team announced Sunday.
Whitlock, 30, was 7-2 with a 1.72 ERA in 54 relief appearances as the setup man to closer Aroldis Chapman. He had 59 strikeouts to nine walks in 52 1/3 innings.
After the Red Sox were eliminated from the playoffs, it was revealed that Whitlock had been pitching with a fractured tibia for a month.
Whitlock has pitched all six of his major league seasons with Boston, going 32-16 with a 2.93 ERA in 219 appearances (23 starts).
Originally an 18th-round draft pick by the New York Yankees in 2017, Whitlock attended the University of Alabama at Birmingham before the Red Sox acquired the Georgia native as a Rule 5 selection out of the Yankees system in 2020.