11:44AM: Whitlock is hoping to pitch normally during Spring Training, he told MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo and other media. His offseason work has thus far extended to bullpen sessions of up to 15 pitches.
11:31AM: Garrett Whitlock will miss the first month or two of the 2025 season as he recovers from an internal brace surgery performed last May, but when the right-hander does return to action, it will be in a bullpen role. Whitlock told reporters (including Julian McWilliams of the Boston Globe) today that the Red Sox intend to use him as a reliever in the coming season.
The news isn’t a huge surprise, given both Whitlock’s health status and the fact that the Sox have enough of a pitching surplus that the team is considering using a six-man rotation just to get everyone innings. There is also the fact that Whitlock has been markedly better as a reliever (2.65 ERA in 132 2/3 innings) than as a starter (4.29 ERA in 109 innings) during his big league career.
After being selected away from the Yankees in the 2020 Rule 5 draft, Whitlock burst onto the Major League scene as a reliever when he posted a spectacular 1.96 ERA over 73 1/3 innings during the 2021 season. It was a tremendous breakout for a pitcher who had never even worked at Triple-A before making his MLB debut, and the Red Sox jumped to capitalize on that potential by signing Whitlock to a contract extension will net him at least $18.75MM over the 2023-26 seasons, and might max out as a six-year, $44MM pact based on club options and escalators.
The Red Sox experimented with Whitlock as a starter in 2022, but moved him back to the pen after he missed about a month due to hip inflammation, and Whitlock continued to pitch well in a multi-inning relief role before a season-ending hip surgery in September. Whitlock was again deployed as a starter to begin the 2023 season, but struggled to a 5.23 ERA in 51 2/3 innings over 10 starts before again returned to the relief corps. This time, Whitlock had a 4.95 ERA in 20 innings as a reliever over the remainder of that season, as some elbow problems were the larger story of Whitlock’s 2023 campaign.
Injuries again surfaced in 2024, as Whitlock didn’t pitch again after suffering an oblique strain in mid-April. A month after his IL placement, Whitlock came away from a Triple-A rehab outing with elbow soreness, and ultimately the UCL damage that necessitated his surgery. Ironically, Whitlock had looked very sharp in his first four starts of the 2024 season, as an 1.96 ERA in 18 1/3 innings hinted that he was finally ready to step up as a regular member of Boston’s rotation.
It still seems possible that the Sox might again use Whitlock as a starter in 2026 or beyond, depending on his health, their rotation needs, or if the Red Sox exercise their club options on his services for the 2027 or 2028 seasons. However, it could be that simply keeping Whitlock in a relief role might be the ideal path to keep him off the injured list. As much as Boston might’ve hoped it had found a quality starter at a relative bargain price, having Whitlock as “only” a bullpen weapon for high-leverage innings is a pretty nice silver lining, assuming Whitlock can regain his 2021-22 form.
Aroldis Chapman and Justin Wilson are the highest-profile new additions to the Boston bullpen this offseason, and the exact nature of the relief mix might not be known for some time. The Red Sox will still need to figure out which five or six arms will comprise their rotation, which excess starters might also be used in the pen, and simply who will be healthy. Aside from Whitlock, Lucas Giolito, Patrick Sandoval, and Michael Fulmer are all returning from long-term injuries.
