Red Sox' Garrett Whitlock confirms role for 2025 season: 'Back to the bullpen, baby'
Red Sox pitcher Garrett Whitlock is moving back to the bullpen. The right-hander confirmed his role for 2025 to reporters while at Fenway Fest in Boston on Saturday morning.
“Back to the bullpen, baby,” said Whitlock when asked about his role with the team heading into next season.
Whitlock is rehabbing back from undergoing elbow surgery to repair his torn ulnar collateral ligament with an internal brace. The procedure has a shorter recovery time than Tommy John surgery. He had UCL reconstruction surgery back in 2019 while in the Yankees minor league system.
The right-hander has dealt with injuries over the last four seasons in Boston and was having a strong start to the 2024 season before he landed on the shelf. The 28-year-old posted a 1-0 record with a 1.96 ERA and 17 strikeouts in 18 1/3 innings (four starts).
Back in September, Whitlock said that he’ll do “whatever can keep [him] healthy.”
Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters at the Winter Meetings in December the team plans on using Whitlock in high-leverage situations this upcoming season.
“The conversations now are not about developing him or ‘Is he a starter or reliever?’” said Cora. “We’ll use him the way we see it, and he was a very successful reliever in ‘21. He’s been an OK starter for us.
“Obviously, injuries have been part of his path, but I think, to be honest with you, we’ll use him the right way and the right way will be kind of like high-leverage innings. If it’s early or late, we don’t know yet.”
Whitlock has been better pitching out of the Red Sox bullpen; he’s recorded a 2.65 ERA over 132.2 innings as a reliever, including a dominant rookie season in 2021 where he posted a 1.96 ERA and 2.84 FIP, with 81 strikeouts to 17 walks with a 1.105 WHIP in 46 games (73 1/3 innings). As a starter, Whitlock owns a 4.29 ERA across 109.0 innings (23 starts).
Whitlock moving into the bullpen isn’t a slam dunk; he’ll be guaranteed a clean bill of health for the season. With a reduced workload and pitching in the later innings for the Red Sox, it should preserve the bullets in his arm moving forward.
“This is what I want to be the year of health for me,” he said. “Just be out there for a full 162 and focus on that. Focus on staying healthy.”
