Garrett Whitlock changes his number for the upcoming season
Whitlock is equipped with a new number, but will he start this season?
Red Sox reliever Garrett Whitlock will be entering his sophomore season wearing a new number. The former Rule 5 draft pick work No. 72 last season and now will wear No. 22 this year.
Whitlock will get the opportunity this spring to get stretched out to become a starter. With the injury to left-hander Chris Sale, the door might be open for Whitlock to begin the season within the rotation.
“Short-term we’re going to stretch him out,” pitching coach Dave Bush said. “We have less time to do that than we normally would or than we expected, so I’m not sure exactly how much he’ll get stretched out, but it’s not going to be any different than the other starters, where we try to get them as long as we can by April 7. So that’s the plan for right now. What our roster and staff looks like in three weeks will determine exactly where he ends up.”
Manager Alex Cora spoke with the media earlier this week on how he’d like to use his righty.
“If we try to fit somebody cookie-cutter style into some sort of abstract role, we do them a disservice,” he said. “So the way we’re looking at it right now, especially with what he’s been through medically, work-load-wise last year, we do want to give him a chance to pitch more innings for us, just to do it in the right way, do it responsibly, not get too focused on what we call the role, but give him a chance to impact us as much as possible in a way that takes care of him.”
Whitlock was impressive last season where he posted a 1.96 ERA over 73 1/3 innings.
”Obviously, we believe he can be a starter with time, but you never know what can happen in the future,” Cora said.
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