Alex Cora will have to make rotation decisions soon, who’s the odd-man out?
What should the Red Sox do with Garrett Whitlock?
The Boston Red Sox rotation is currently in flux. Fortunately, this is not because of bad performance, but because people are getting healthy. There has been a six man rotation over the last two turns through the rotation which has put the bullpen in a spot to be really thin.
After the Red Sox won the series against the Seattle Mariners it was confirmed Nick Pivetta would in fact be moving to the bullpen as a multi-inning reliever. After his start on Tuesday night against the Seattle Mariners where the Red Sox won 9-4, he was spotted sitting next to Kenley Jansen on Wednesday out in right field.
Currently, the next biggest question is who will be bumped out when Garrett Whitlock returns.
Whitlock is set to make another rehab start this Sunday for the WooSox and then likely to return if all goes well for the series against Arizona.
There are multiple avenues the Red Sox could go when Whitlock is back.
The two areas of focus for Chaim Bloom and the current front office is clear when roster decisions are made. The first is what moves allows for the most roster flexibility and the second is keeping the long term development in mind, especially when it comes to the pitching.
With that said, that rules out optioning Brayan Bello who has started to find a groove winning his last 3 game to go along with a 2.81 ERA. Developing Bello into a frontend starter is the most important long term objective of this season. Another option is to put Tanner Houck in the bullpen due to his inability to maintain success beyond the third inning.
Houck through the first three innings has 0.83 ERA to go along with a 0.75 WHIP. He also has 24 Ks through 24 total innings with no homeruns given up. However, innings four through seven he has an 11.57 ERA, 2.04 WHIP, and only 14Ks through 18.2 innings with 5 long balls given up.
Houck has shown he can thrive out in the bullpen, which would be the obvious move here if it wasn’t for Corey Kluber.
No matter how you look at it, Kluber’s numbers have been bad. His baseball savant page is very poor as he is either walking people or throwing it in the zone and getting barreled up. With his fastball velocity diminished and now his lack of control, he is not a bullpen candidate.
The Red Sox can either DFA Kluber or put him on a phantom IL stint. At this point if the Sox decided to DFA him it would be justified as he is not getting the job done. However, as mentioned earlier this front office likes to maintain roster flexibility as long as possible before making a final decision.
Putting Kluber on the phantom IL, presuming he would quietly accept it, would allow Houck to get at least a few more tries at the rotation and see how James Paxton and Whitlock hold up coming back from injuries.
As a few more turns of the rotation go by and if everyone remains healthy I would expect Kluber to be gone. Even if Houck continues to struggle or Bello goes through a rough patch, there are arms such as Kutter Crawford that deserve a look over Kluber at this point.
Kluber could have been a nice story for the Red Sox this year. He had a decent season with Tampa last season and he signs here in a state where he raised his family. However, if the Red Sox front office is truly serious about winning this season, as then Kluber’s days could be numbered.
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