It was NEVER a good idea to make Whitlock a starter. He was a weapon in the bullpen. He had TJ surgery. They ruined him just like they did with Daniel Bard.
It was NEVER a good idea to make Whitlock a starter. He was a weapon in the bullpen. He had TJ surgery. They ruined him just like they did with Daniel Bard.
And who cares if he wanted to be a starter. That was not in his or the team's best interest. He was under contract. An employee does what the boss says. The boss screwed this up royally. Bloom and Breslow.
Now he will have to have another TJ surgery of some type and be out for all of next year. I hope he comes back and is able to pitch. If he does, it has to be as an 8th inning guy.
He may have gotten hurt, a lot, even if he stayed a RP'er, but I tend to agree. Moving him to the rotation probably led to more injuries. (Just my opinion.)
Sometimes, moving pitchers to the rotation works, like Crawford. (Houck has moved back and forth.)
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?
I only disagree with the Sox ruining Bard by making him a starter. He was overrated as a reliever to begin with…
He did a really good job as a RP'er. The ability to go 2-3 innings cannot be undervalued, and his ability to include the 9th inning in those long relief games is somewhat rare.
AS RP
2021: 1.96 ERA/2.84 FIP (1.105 WHIP) in 73.1 IP (11 games finished) That's 5-20 more IP than many closers get.)
2022:
0.93/2.21 in first 4 RP games
(started 9 games)
3.34/3.05 in 18 games after starting
2022 as RP: 2.75 ERA, 0.788 WHIP (.547 OPS Against)
His 2.2 fWAR as a RP'er from '21 to '22 ranked 22nd in MLB.
His 73 xFIP- ranked 10th.
His 51 ERA- ranked 2nd.
His 5.43 K/BB ratio ranked 5th.
What does it take to be a good RP'er, for you?
That was for 2 years and 112 IP.
2023 was not good:
4.95 as RP (5.23 as SP) .784 OPSA as RP
When you say it's gonna happen now
When exactly do you mean?