Boston Red Sox: 3 areas of optimism for the 2023 MLB season
By Colin Lynch
The Boston Red Sox have some exciting young arms to watch in 2023
Garrett Whitlock: After turning into a bonafide bullpen weapon in 2021, Whitlock was inexplicably rushed into a starting role before the midpoint of the 2022 season.
Whitlock struggled to transition and was moved back to the bullpen, where he thrived to finish the 2022 campaign. Garrett has been told he will be moved back to the rotation in 2023, but now he has the entire offseason to prepare for his new role.
Whitlock has excellent command of a 3-pitch mix and mostly has to build the arm strength to get him into that 70-100 pitch range. The hope is that Whitlock can work his way into becoming a formidable front-line starter for the Red Sox for years to come, and much of their success will rely on his ability to do so.
Tanner Houck: Tanner Houk’s 2023 role still feels more up in the air than Garrett Whitlock’s.
Considering how dominant he’s been out of the bullpen and the number of starters the Red Sox will have in camp in 2023, allowing Houck to carve out a legitimate back-end of the bullpen role makes the most sense.
As a reliever in 2022, Houck finished with a 2.70 ERA with 43 strikeouts to just 15 walks in 43.1 innings pitched. There is a chance that Houck could emerge as the setup man in front of Kenley Jansen. With a fastball that sits in the 95 – 98 mph range, a big sweeping slider, and an emerging splitter, his repertoire is developing into that of a dominant late-inning MLB pitcher.
Brayan Bello: Right-hander Brayan Bello could very well be the most exciting Sox project of 2023.
Although his intro to Red Sox nation was a bit rough last July as he posted an unflattering 8.82 ERA in his first 16.3 innings, resulting in an 0-3 record. But Bello made adjustments quickly, mostly with his ability to attack hitters and fill up the strike zone. He started to trust his 97-99mph fastball in the zone, which helped his filthy disappearing change-up neutralize Major League hitters.
In September and one October start, Bello recorded a 2.59 ERA with 32 strikeouts and 12 walks in 31.1 innings pitched. He still posted a 1.5 WHIP which is significantly higher than the Red Sox would like, but he showed an ability to make big pitches in big spots and limited damage.
If Bello can stay on this upward trend, Red Sox fans may be watching the emergence of a future ace.