3 Red Sox on Thin Ice Heading Into Opening Day
3. RHP Garrett Whitlock
Like Houck, Garrett Whitlock is another one of the Red Sox's starting pitchers who's coming off a down year.
Multiple elbow injuries held the Snellville, GA native to 22 appearances (10 stars) in 2023 and it's safe to say that those issues played a role in his shortcomings. By the time the dust settled, Whitlock finished his third MLB campaign with career worsts in ERA (5.15) and WHIP (1.326) as well as hits (10.3) and home runs (1.6) allowed per nine innings.
Whitlock's poor performance put him in a position where he almost didn't make the 2024 rotation. He and Houck were expected to duke it out for the fifth spot in the group until Lucas Giolito partially tore his UCL, sidelining Boston's new signee for the next few months.
We'll see if Whitlock has what it takes to hold onto a starting job once again. He's made 19 career starts since debuting in 2021, going 5-4 with a 4.76 ERA and 85 Ks across 90 2/3 innings. At the same time, it's worth noting that he owns a 2.65 ERA over 80 relief appearances and hasn't pitched for more than two innings since the end of last June.
If the Red Sox are going to turn things around this year, Whitlock must be part of the solution and not the problem.
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