Red Sox's Chaim Bloom Hints At Garrett Whitlock's New Role Next Season
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Did Boston Red Sox chief baseball officer accidently reveal Garrett Whitlock's role for 2023 and beyond?
His defense of one area of Whitlock's game seemed to indicate as much. When asked about the 26-year-old's role for the upcoming season, Bloom would not give a point-blank answer, but left room for assumptions.
"I’m not ready to break news on that front," Bloom told The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham. "I think we’re fortunate in him to have someone that wherever you put him he’s going to be able to impact the club.
"I will say I think that just because of the situation our bullpen was in and the situation he was in physically, I think there’s this perception he didn’t succeed as a starter. But when you really peel back the layers and look at what he did, it was pretty impressive. Especially having to (move into the rotation) on the fly.”
Bloom immediately coming to the defense of Whitlock as a starter implies which direction the team is leaning, especially since it's the most likely course of action.
The right-hander reportedly has incentives in his deal for innings pitched, which indicates that both Whitlock and the Red Sox want him to move in that direction at some point in the remaining four seasons of his current deal. It would make no sense for Whitlock to transition from reliever to starter later in his career, so the time to do so will almost certainly be in the upcoming season.
That said, there is a near-identical sample size to prove that the young star is better suited for a multi-inning relief role than he is a spot in the rotation.
Whitlock was 3-1 with a 2.75 ERA, 44-to-6 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .179 batting average against in 39 1/3 innings across 22 appearances.
He was 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA, 38-to-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio and .261 BAA in 39 innings across nine starts.
Whitlock saw an expected uptick in velocity and spin out of the bullpen as well. While the numbers are clearly better as a reliever, it's important to note that he was not healthy for the majority of the season, as he was limping around well before and after his stint on the injured list. Any implications from this season should have some degree of an asterisks next to it.
We could see a much better version of Whitlock next season, regardless of his role.
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