Injured or not, Whitlock is a starter

Garrett Whitlock is back on the injured list, this time with a nerve issue that causes numbness in his right arm. That sounds ominous, but it’s something that can be treated and the Red Sox are hopeful Whitlock will miss only two starts.

This is the fourth time Whitlock has been on the IL since September 2021, which also sounds ominous. The best ability is availability, as Bill Parcells once said.

But the notion this can all be fixed by moving Whitlock out of the rotation and into the bullpen is misguided.

It’s become such a hot topic among Red Sox fans that even Joe Scarborough of MSNBC weighed in.

“Whitlock is a strong reliever. He has never been a starter. How much damage are they going to do to his arm before they figure this out?” Scarborough posted on Twitter.

“He can be a great reliever or a broken-down starter. Enough already.”

Whitlock was 13-8 with a 2.42 ERA in 46 minor league games, 40 of them starts. So he has been a starter and a very good one.

Whitlock was drafted and developed as a starter by the Yankees before the Red Sox stole him in the 2020 Rule 5 Draft. He pitched in relief in 2021 and was excellent, posting a 1.96 earned run average over 46 games and 73‚ innings.

But there were reasons he worked out of the bullpen.

As a Rule 5 player, the Sox had to keep Whitlock on the major league roster all season or offer him back to the Yankees.

That team had Nate Eovaldi, Tanner Houck, Martín Pérez, Nick Pivetta, Garrett Richards, Eduardo Rodriguez, and Chris Sale available as starters. So Whitlock fit best in the bullpen.

Whitlock also had missed the 2020 season recovering from Tommy John surgery, so a starter’s workload would not have made much sense for him.

Whitlock joined the rotation a few weeks into the 2022 season and had a 4.15 ERA in nine starts before a hip impingement landed him on the IL. He returned as a reliever because that was the best way to manage the injury.

Surgery on that same hip caused him to miss the start of this season and Whitlock has since had two poor starts and one excellent one.

In all, Whitlock has allowed two or fewer earned runs in eight of his 12 career starts in the majors. There is a lot there to work with. A 26-year-old who has shown the ability to succeed as a starter is a hugely valuable asset to any organization.

Whitlock could ultimately be a No. 2 or 3 starter for a contending team. He’s also under team control through 2028 at what would be an average of $6.1 million a year if his two team options are picked up.

After the Sox beat the Cleveland Guardians, 8-7, in 10 innings on a single by Alex Verdugo, Boston starters have a 6.27 ERA this season. Only the Athletics, who gave up on their season before it started, are worse. Whitlock’s role should be apparent.

“He’s a starter for us,” Alex Cora said before Saturday’s win.

Cora then made a good point: Why would pitching in relief necessarily be better for Whitlock physically?

“If he’s a reliever he’s going to pitch every two days. He’s going to have to be ready to pitch every single day,” the manager said. “As a starter he’s going to pitch one — yeah, five or six innings — but then you get four [days off ].

“We see him as a starter, I know that.”

Whitlock, who took a drive to Andover before the game to help open the town’s Little League season, said he’s feeling better but hasn’t tried throwing yet since being shut down.

At any level of baseball, starting pitching determines the season. Every team is only as good as its rotation. The starter sets the tone every day.

Unless performance clearly dictates otherwise, Whitlock should get every chance to start. It’s the best way to get the most out of his considerable talent.