Club was getting more out of Whitlock, Houck in their previous roles

BOSTON — It was easy to understand why the Red Sox began the year with Tanner Houck in the starting rotation and Garrett Whitlock in the bullpen.

The arrangement had worked marvelously last year. Even after the team yanked Houck back and forth between Triple-a and the big leagues, he was still dominating in a critical Game 161, in which Houck was removed with a perfect game and eight strikeouts in the sixth inning.

The arrangement worked well early this season, too, as Houck looked strong through his first three starts and Whitlock starred as the ace reliever. The Sox went 2-1 in Houck’s starts and 3-1 in Whitlock’s relief appearances.

And while it made sense that the team had to pull Houck out of the rotation in late April to prepare for his non-vaccinated-related absence in Toronto and replaced him with Whitlock, that was expected to be a temporary fix.

What’s confusing is why the Sox are still going with this.

If it was working, it’d be less confusing. But it’s been a rocky ride.

Whitlock had a fine start on Monday, but clearly looked exhausted in his last two innings of his five-inning start against the Astros.

“It’s definitely something we’re still building up,” Whitlock said of his arm strength after the Sox’ 6-3 win. “I haven’t’ been a starter in about three years. It’s definitely been a while. But it’s something that I feel like is coming along good.”

After cruising through the first four innings on 60 pitches, Whitlock started the fifth inning with a 94 mph fastball, down from 96 mph in the first inning. His next pitch was an 84-mph slider in the same spot that got cranked out of the yard in center field by Chas Mccormick.

His command and velocity faded more drastically in the sixth, when Michael Brantley hit a belthigh slider for a double, then Whitlock walked Alex Bregman on four pitches before his night was over.

“I don’t know if he was tired or it was just the delay with the situation with Jake Odorizzi (who was carted off the field),” manager Alex Cora said. “But he gave us 15 outs and that’s very important for us.”

It wasn’t a bad night by any means. Whitlock still finished with five-plus innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks, striking out three. It was good enough for the Sox to win the game.

“He was really good, not an easy lineup and for him to go five,” Cora said.

Which worked on Monday because the bullpen didn’t completely unravel, although Jake Diekman did pick up another blown save when he allowed Brantley to score on his watch in the sixth. Still, Matt Strahm was excellent and the team with an Mlb-worst 10 blown saves got it done this time.