When the Red Sox signed Garrett Whitlock to a long-term extension in the spring of 2022, they did so believing he could blossom into a mainstay of the starting rotation for years to come.
He still could, but it hasn’t happened as quickly as anybody would have preferred.
Over the past two years Whitlock’s progress has been hampered by a series of injuries. First there was the hip issue that derailed his 2022 season and necessitated major offseason surgery. Then last season he went on the injured list three separate times, first to complete his recovery from surgery but then due to two separate issues with his right elbow.
Those setbacks and the inconsistency they helped cause contributed to Boston’s fall to last place in each season, and Whitlock isn’t shy about admitting he hasn’t delivered on his end of the bargain.
“I’ll be the first one to say I think I was the worst guy on the team last year, so I think I need to pick it up a lot,” Whitlock said recently at Winter Weekend. “I think (Alex Cora) would tell you that, I think anyone that saw me last year would tell you that, so I’ve put a lot on myself to try and really step it up.”
Now Whitlock is determined to become the workhorse the Red Sox are counting on him to be.
Finally back to full health, Whitlock has hit the gym hard this offseason in hopes of building up enough strength to handle a full season’s workload. How that work translates on the field remains to be seen, but superficially the results have been impressive, as Whitlock turned heads all over Springfield with his notably improved physique.
“This is the first offseason I’ve been healthy in a while so I took advantage of it,” Whitlock said. “I took one week off at the end of the season and went straight back in and got to work in the gym. I wanted to do that to build strength and build up the right way.”
Whitlock’s current physical state stands in sharp contrast to last winter, or even compared to the majority of his tenure with the Red Sox. Acquired in the Rule 5 Draft from the New York Yankees ahead of the 2021 season, Whitlock was recovering from Tommy John surgery and spent the year in the bullpen while working his way back to full health.
