Why the Red Sox are putting Garrett Whitlock back in the bullpen as he returns from injury
Whitlock was activated ahead of Sunday's game against the Tigers and will return to a similar role he had over the previous two seasons.
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The Red Sox are set to get back their second key veteran pitcher over the weekend on Sunday.
Garrett Whitlock was activated from the 15-day injured list ahead of Sunday’s game against the Tigers with the team optioning Kyle Barraclough back down to Triple-A Worcester.
But Whitlock will play a different role than the last time Red Sox fans saw him. The righty is expected to return to the multi-inning relief role that made him one of the game’s top bullpen arms over the 2021 and 2022 seasons, putting his time as a starter on pause.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora explained to reporters that putting Whitlock back in the bullpen was more about the number of arms they already have in the starting rotation and the ability to bring him back from his elbow injury sooner.
“We’ve got six guys, seven guys, it seems like,” Cora said on Saturday. “Just go out there and help us as soon as possible. He wanted to come back as soon as possible. This is the best way. We’ll stretch him out. He’s gonna go two, three innings. It was more about his willingness to get ready and help us as soon as possible. This is the best way.”
While the Red Sox rotation immediately became thin when Whitlock went down with his injury on July 2, they’re slowly starting to get some arms back. Chris Sale returned on Friday, retiring the first 14 hitters he faced. Tanner Houck’s return is on the horizon, which will bring the Red Sox’ rotation to five full-time starters once he returns.
In addition, Nick Pivetta has been a reliable arm for the Red Sox when he’s either worked a starting pitcher’s workload out of the bullpen or in the two games he’s started since late June.
But it’s also hard not to wonder if pitching Whitlock out of the bullpen should be his full-time role considering the success he’s had there while struggling as a starter. He went 8-4 with a 1.96 ERA in 73 1/3 innings pitched over 46 outings in 2021. He pitched just as well out of the bullpen in 2022, going 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA with a 0.788 WHIP in 39 1/3 innings pitched over 22 outings.
After he had a two-month stint in the rotation last season, the Red Sox wanted to give Whitlock another look as a starter. The 27-year-old has mostly struggled, going 4-3 with a 5.23 ERA over 10 starts.
Cora admitted Saturday that it’s unclear what Whitlock’s role with the team will be beyond the season.
“Long-term, we’ll talk after the season,” Cora said.
As for Whitlock, he’s just excited to take the mound again.
“Who cares? As long as I get to play, that’s all that matters,” Whitlock told reporters following his last rehab stint on Wednesday. “As long as I can contribute, as long as I can bring something to the team, I don’t care what I do.”
Houck’s pending return helped the Red Sox make the decision to put Whitlock back in the bullpen. Houck pitched three scoreless innings with Triple-A Worcester in his most recent rehab start on Friday.
Unlike they did with Whitlock, the Red Sox are stringing out Houck’s rehab assignment just a bit longer because he’ll be back in the rotation once he returns.
“He was efficient, good mechanics, threw a lot of strikes,” Cora said. “We feel we have to stretch him out. Most likely comes back as a starter. That’s why we want him to go out for one more.”
Houck, who initially was expected to begin the season out of the bullpen, gave the Red Sox some solid outings as a starter this season, but he’s 3-6 with a 5.05 ERA in 13 starts. The 27-year-old has mostly been a decent pitcher though when he’s started over his career, posting a 7-12 record and a 3.99 ERA over 33 career starts.
Even though the Red Sox will miss their goal of having all three of Sale, Whitlock, and Houck back by the start of their 10-game road trip, they anticipate Houck will be back by the start of the four-game set against the Astros on Aug. 21 to close out the trip.
If the rest of the pitching staff remains intact by Houck’s return, Cora’s excited by what could follow.
“The bullpen is really, really good,” Cora said. “And [Houck] did an outstanding job early on [as a starter]. So we’ll keep [him] in there and we’ll see how we play it out. There are a lot of games coming up. One extra day for a six-man rotation. We can be creative with the guys that we have.”
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