Whitlock belongs in bullpen
Sox not good enough to waste his starts
If the Red Sox had to decide right now what would be best for Garrett Whitlock’s career — or at least the next seven years he’s under contract in Boston — keeping him in the starting rotation is the way to go. He can clearly handle it. He’s developed three elite pitches. His body is strong enough. He’s got the mindset. He’s most valuable there in the long term.
But on this year’s Red Sox team? Playing in front of a lineup that started Thursday’s game with five guys hitting under .200? For a team that is struggling to turn double plays, failing to hit for power and has no clear plan in the bullpen?
The answer is becoming clear: the Red Sox need to put Whitlock back in the ’pen.
Twice on this road trip the Sox have turned to Whitlock out of the rotation. And after their 1-0 loss to the Blue Jays on Thursday, the Sox are 0-2 in those starts, despite Whitlock allowing just one unearned run over seven combined innings.
In those two games, the Red Sox offense has combined for two runs on six hits. They’re hitting .095 when Whitlock starts. They’ve made two official errors on defense, but have made multiple ugly plays in the infield behind him.
This team is too unpredictable, too unsteady, too flawed to put their best pitcher on a schedule five days in advance and stick with it, no matter the circumstances.
Otherwise, there’s no way they would’ve chosen Thursday as the moment for Whitlock to make his only appearance of the week.
It was the wrong day to burn their best player.
The Blue Jays were starting Alek Manoah, who has shoved against the Sox (and the rest of the league) since he entered the bigs last year. He’s got an overpowering fastball that touches 97 mph and a wipeout slider to go with a sinker and changeup. The Sox did nothing against him Thursday, when they cobbled together just two singles, a double and a walk while striking out seven times over seven innings.
Xander Bogaerts was on the bench with a day off. That’s fine; the Sox need to rest their players sometimes, and a day game after a night game on the turf makes a lot of sense.
But if the team has the foresight to know when Whitlock is starting and to know when they’d like the league’s batting average leader to take a day off, sidelining them both on the same day isn’t a recipe for winning games.
It didn’t help that J.D. Martinez needed the day off due to his left adductor strain flaring up.
With both of them on the bench, the Sox went with a lineup that included Trevor Story in the leadoff spot, where he’s hitting .207, Kiké Hernandez, hitting .197, in the cleanup spot, and Travis Shaw, 0-for-20 this season, as the designated hitter.
Christian Arroyo played shortstop with Bogaerts out and made a bad error in the third inning on a routine groundball to his right. He fielded it cleanly but it bounced out of his glove on the transfer and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. reached safely, then came around to score the game’s only run.
And Arroyo failed to turn a double play on a ball hit to Story, who flipped it to the shortstop behind the bag, but Arroyo was already stationed on the bag instead of anticipating the toss behind it, and he had to spin around to make a throw from an awkward position.
The Jays didn’t hit Whitlock hard, but the mistakes added up and Whitlock got no help from home plate umpire Larry Vanover, who missed several obvious calls throughout the day.
Whitlock finished with a careerhigh 61 pitches despite throwing just three innings. He allowed one unearned run on four hits and two walks while striking out two.
Manager Alex Cora said he wasn’t sure what comes next for Whitlock, but the Sox must consider putting him back in the ’pen.
That the Sox fielded their worst lineup of the season while also burning their best pitcher in a key divisional game in Toronto is nothing short of a disaster. It can’t happen again. The Sox aren’t deep enough. They need to take advantage of every game Whitlock pitch
es, and until last week, they had done that.
They were 3-1 in games that Whitock had pitched out of relief, when they can use him only in games they know they have a chance to win. They can control the environment.
When he’s in the rotation, there’s no telling what will happen around him.
So far, they’ve wasted him twice. In a perfect world, there are more options out of the bullpen and a more consistent lineup on the field. Letting Whitlock pitch every five days is a great way to let him develop into an ace and learn important lessons along the way. If they can get him to 200 innings, he’s more valuable than throwing 100 innings out of relief.
But this isn’t a perfect world. The Red Sox aren’t a perfect team.
And without Whitlock in the bullpen, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get through these games.