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

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.