How Red Sox's Garrett Whitlock Fared In Rehab Outing As He Preps For New Role

Boston could use the right-hander back on the roster

Scott Neville | Aug 9, 2023

How Red Sox's Garrett Whitlock Fared In Rehab Outing As He Preps For New Role /

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Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox received a notable upgrade when shortstop Trevor Story arrived on Tuesday but he's far from the last addition the club is expecting over the next week or so.

Chris Sale will return to action Friday with right-handers Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck not far behind.

Whitlock made his first and possibly final rehab outing with Triple-A Worcester on Wednesday and had favorable results. The 27-year-old allowed a pair of hits with a hit batter and three strikeouts across 2 1/3 scoreless innings. Whitlock threw 46 pitches, notching 33 strikes (71.7%) and both hits allowed had exit velocities under 70 mph.

The right-hander looked both healthy and sharp overall in his outing for the WooSox.

Whitlock has fallen below expectations in his first full season as a starter, posting a 5.23 ERA with a 47-to-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .298 batting average against and 1.32 WHIP in 51 2/3 innings across 10 starts. He's shown a continued ability to avoid walks but has been hit around this year, uncharacteristically, and has been injury prone.

Fortunately, it appears that Boston is willing to move Whitlock back to the multi-inning reliever role he absolutely thrived in to start his Major League Baseball career.

"Not a final decision yet but Whitlock likely heading to the bullpen after his rehab and Houck will be stretched out," The Athletic's Jen McCaffrey tweeted Friday.

Whitlock has a 2.24 ERA with a 125-to-23 strikeout-to-walk ratio, .215 batting average against and 0.99 WHIP in 112 2/3 innings across 68 appearances out of the bullpen since making his big-league debut in 2021.

While the Red Sox took a worthy bet trying to turn Whitlock from a multi-inning hurler to a frontline starter, it might be time to accept that he is best suited as a high-leverage reliever moving forward.

More MLB: Red Sox Call Up Veteran (7-0, 2.57 ERA), DFA Newcomer After Horrid Performance

Published Aug 9, 2023

SCOTT NEVILLE

Scott Neville covers the Boston Red Sox for Sports Illustrated's new page "Inside The Red Sox." Before starting "Inside The Red Sox", Neville attended Merrimack College, where he earned his Bachelor’s Degree in Communication and Media with a minor in Marketing. Neville spent all four years with Merrimack's radio station WMCK, where he grew as a radio/podcast host and producer. His propensity for being in front of a microphone eventually expanded to film, where he produced multiple short films alongside his then-roommate and current co-worker Stephen Mottram. On a journey that began as a way to receive easy credits via film classes, he received a call from "It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia" star Charlie Day. Day advised him to make a feature-length film, which he completed his senior year. While writing the film, Neville completed an internship for United Way as part of their NFL Partnership Program. Neville ran the blog for a team of interns and hosted an internet show called "United Way's NFL Partnership Series" where he interviewed NFL alumni. After college Neville wrote for SB Nation's "Over The Monster," a Red Sox sister site of the flagship brand. His work would eventually lead him to a job as a content producer with NESN, where he would cover all sports. After developing as a writer with the top regional network in the world, he was given the opportunity to join the Sports Illustrated Media Group in his current endeavor as the publisher of "Inside The Red Sox." The successful launch and quick rise of "Inside The Red Sox" led to Neville joining the Baseball Essential ownership group, a national baseball site under SIMG. Follow him on Twitter: @ScottNeville46 Email: nevilles@merrimack.edu