WHITLOCK NEEDED AS CLOSER
OPINION By Alexa D'Amato
Garrett Whitlock is the most valuable pitcher the Red Sox have right now, but they need to figure out how to use him.
The team originally brought Whitlock up and used him as a multi-inning reliever, an uncommon weapon, and he quickly won the trust of management and fans. He was used in high leverage situations and proved how important he was to the team. He made his first career start April 23 against the Tampa Bay Rays, where he did not give up any runs. Similarly, in his second career start, he gave up one unearned run, and in his third start, he gave up two earned runs.
In those three games, the team went on to lose. The offense hasn’t come close to any of their moderate expectations, and the bullpen had excelled for longer than anticipated, before they started to look human.
The bullpen looks most vulnerable in save situations. The Red Sox have blown a league leading nine saves in 2022, nearly double the amount of the next closest team. While making Whitlock a starter is best for the long term, it makes sense for the team to turn him into a closer for the short term. The Red Sox haven't had a real closer since the second half of the 2021 season, when former closer Matt Barnes had a catastrophic breakdown, going from being an unhittable All-Star pitcher to blowing every save opportunity he had.
Only 32 games into the 2022 season, Boston has blown majority of their saves, with a total of 15. With the trade deadline in early August because of the delayed start to the season, it is vital for the Red Sox management to get a closer as soon as possible, because until then, the only consistently reliable pitcher who has the potential to close, would be Whitlock.
In the long run, it hardly makes sense to make Whitlock a closer, when the Red Sox signed Whitlock from the Rule 5 Draft, the intent was always to make him a starter. The team needed young starters, and Barnes was supposed to be a reliable closer for the entirety of the season. When that didn’t happen, the Red Sox were put into an unprecedented situation - they had to figure out if they could help Barnes quickly, or give the position to someone else. The team seemed to decide to try and fix Barnes, and it didn’t work, which put him into the position of a mid-inning reliever. Since the 2021 trade deadline, no one was signed or traded to become a closer.
The Red Sox desperately need a pitcher who can go out several nights a week and secure the lead and the win, something that their relievers who were thrown into closer situations can’t do. The only pitcher who has shown that he can shine in any situation has been Whitlock. If Boston wants to keep any hopes of the postseason alive before the trade deadline, the best thing to do is to put Whitlock as a closer. For this season, making Whitlock a multi-inning closer to ensure that he can return to his role as a starter would be the most practical option.
Whitlock is an incredibly valuable player, but he would be most useful as a starting pitcher in the long term. But because of the complicated circumstances of this season, he may need to become a closer. The ideal situation for Boston would be Whitlock closing until they trade or sign someone at the deadline, then he becomes an opener, or works his way up to closing by returning to being a multi-inning reliever.