2025 In a Discarded-on-the-Dugout-Floor Nutshell
Whitlock returned to the bullpen this year and morphed into one of the most trustworthy and dependable relief pitchers the team has seen in years. As the designated setup man for Aroldis Chapman, he nearly always provided clean innings and allowed Chapman, in his very dominant season, to shut games down.
The Good
We got a healthy Whitlock the entire year, and as a result the “good” was nearly everything. A few weeks ago, I saw someone complain online that they hate seeing Baseball Savant graphics without “nuance”.
Well here’s some nuance for ya: RED EQUALS GOOD!! And as we can see there is plenty of red on Whitlock’s Savant page:
Most impressively, Whitlock was almost always able to have clean outings, even if he got himself into jams, and would come up clutch more often than not. This earned him the endearing nickname online of “Big C*ck Whitlock”. And, off the field, Whitlock is just as great a guy, as he is one of the most omnipresent players at Red Sox charity events, particularly the visits to Boston Children’s with the Jimmy Fund. The fanbase loves him, and for good reason.
The Bad
There was one sole thing that dampened Whitlock’s glorious season: If and when he went more than one inning, he usually had a harder time. This was unfortunately the most evident during the Wild Card series, when he was called on to pitch the most he had the entire season and wasn’t able to keep the Sox in a good spot to (try to) win. After getting tasked with pitching two innings for the first time in (what feels like) ages, and throwing more pitches in a relief outing than he ever has in his career, he couldn’t keep the game tied, gave up the go-ahead run on an RBI single, and nearly completely fell apart after that.
Best Game or Moment
There were so many! But if I had to name one, it was that Royals game at Fenway on August 4th, when the Royals started to make a giant comeback after the Sox had built a big lead. Jorge Alcala and Justin Wilson had bombed, and Whitlock was put in as the fireman. He got the job done, with help from the defense, and allowed the Sox to win the game, albeit with a much slimmer lead than they had before.
The Big Question
Is Garrett Whitlock finally done going back and forth between the bullpen and the rotation? Given his arsenal, he’ll always have people saying he could move back to the rotation, but I don’t think he will, or should. More on that below.
2026 And Beyond
I really hope that the Red Sox front office has learned that Whitlock works best as a reliever. If he sometimes had trouble throwing more than one inning this year, then a lot of work will need to be done if they want to make him a starter again. Fortunately, I don’t think that’s the plan. They would’ve made Whitlock a starter this past season if they felt like they needed to given all the rotation shuffling, and they didn’t.
Some other questions pertaining the future: Will he have as great a season next year as he did this year? Who knows. If Chapman regresses, will he become the closer instead? Also who knows. But a healthy Whitlock is a solid performer and an even better reliever. I’m looking forward to seeing more of him.
