Three pitchers, two spots, one tough choice: who could still make the Red Sox’ rotation?
Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Cooper Criswell are the last pitchers standing, competing for two starting rotation spots ahead of Opening Day.
The Red Sox’ starting pitching herd thinned Sunday when Josh Winckowski headed back to the bullpen, leaving three pitchers left to compete for two roster spots.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora announced Winckowski’s status change, noting that the decision is the first of many ahead of Opening Day on March 28 in Seattle.
Now, just three pitchers remain in contention to open the season as starters: Tanner Houck, Garrett Whitlock, and Cooper Criswell.
All three players have made splashy starts during spring training, showing off their offseason improvements. However, without a guaranteed addition of a sixth man, one of these pitchers will likely follow Winckowski to the bullpen before the end of the month. Here’s how they’re faring so far ahead of Opening Day.
Tanner Houck
Houck knows what it means to be a part of the Red Sox’ regular season rotation, and he’s heading into the 2024 season with confidence.
“I like my chances,” Houck told MassLive’s Christopher Smith on Sunday at JetBlue Park following a win over the Yankees. “But at the same time, I know I’ve got to go out there and continue to compete and continue to push myself to get better each time and let the cards fall as they do.”
Last year he posted a 5.01 ERA over 21 starts. While he stayed in the rotation for the entire season, he spent two months on the injured list due to a facial fracture.
The 6-foot-5-inch, 226-pound pitcher was called up to the majors at the end of the 2020 season, but has long struggled to locate.
“We always talk about him in spring training being all over the place, trying to find his mechanics,” Cora said Tuesday per the Globe’s Tara Sullivan. “That’s not the case this year.”
So far Houck’s allowed just four runs in 15 innings (2.40 ERA) over five Grapefruit League games. He’s held opponents to 10 hits and three walks, striking out 16.
Despite his optimism about landing a roster spot, he knows he’s competing for a highly desired position against other talented teammates.
“Show up every day, put your best foot forward,” he said about his preseason strategy. “Give it all you can and make it a tough decision on them. So I’ve got one more outing. Go out there and continue to put my best foot forward as well as going into the season continuing to not take my foot off the gas pedal at all. Up to them and we’ll see.”
Garrett Whitlock
Whitlock showed off his best performance of spring training Friday night against the Twins, going 4 1⁄3 scoreless innings and giving up just two hits while walking one and striking out five.
The righthander moved somewhat seamlessly between bullpen and rotation over the last two seasons, showing glimmers of the play he delivered during the 2021 season.
“Last year I felt like it was really hard for me to get my hip loose and everything going for multiple innings,” Whitlock said. “But now I feel back to normal and feeling good.”
In his 22 appearances for the Red Sox last season, Whitlock put up a 5-5 record with a 5.15 ERA and a 1.326 WHIP.
Now, he’s focused on being less focused on a roster spot ahead of the 2024 season.
“He told me to adapt that mindset of that swiss army knife where it’s like just throw me in anything and I’ll go out there and do it,” Whitlock said about the advice he received from his mentor Adam Warren, per the Boston Herald’s Mac Cerullo. “Once you adapt that mindset it frees everything else up where I don’t feel this chip or this burden like, ‘Aw, I’ve got to be a starter,’ or, “Aw, I’ve got to a be a closer.’”
Cooper Criswell
Criswell – who signed with the Red Sox in free agency on a one-year, $1 million contract this offseason – has his eye on the No. 5 starting spot, but is focused on contributing relief wherever he can.
“My dad always said to know your role, whether you’re a starter, the sixth man or a bench player,” Criswell said about his father and former coach, per the Globe’s Peter Abraham. “I always bought into that.”
The 27-year-old was shuttled between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Triple-A eight times last season, appearing in 10 games where he allowed 21 earned runs over 33 innings in relief.
Whenever they called me up, it was because they needed innings,” Criswell said. “I understood what I had to do. I was glad to get the opportunities.”
In Saturday’s game against the Orioles, the righthander pitched four innings, holding Baltimore to two runs on four hits. So far this preseason he has a 3.77 ERA over five games, posting 8.2 strikeouts per nine innings.
“We’re stretching him out,” Cora said. “We talked to him before camp started and said we didn’t know where this would take us. But he will contribute this year, he will.”
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