While the Red Sox were melting down in what would be a 10-4, 10-inning loss to the Angels Wednesday night - losing leads three different times - a story came out in the Athletic, ranking baseball's best aces.
The starting pitcher who earlier in the evening had struck out nine hitters over five innings, exiting with an ERA of 1.25, was not on the list. Why? Because Whitlock and the Red Sox are caught in a no man's land that has both the pitcher and the team in a spot neither should be finding themselves.
Whitlock should be an ace. The kind of starter that enters into the conversations with Corbin Burnes, Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and the rest. But, unfortunately for all involved, that is has no longer become an option.
As good as Whitlock has been in his brief return to life as a starter, the construction of the Red Sox roster simply won't allow him to live that life. He is needed elsewhere. In fact, he is really needed everywhere, but priorities are priorities. And as Wednesday's debacle showed, the Red Sox' life support will be officially unplugged if the best pitcher on the team isn't around at the end of games to save the day.
Chaim Bloom rolled the dice by banking on the game-ending potential of one pitcher (Hansel Robles) who came to camp on a minor-league deal, and another (Jake Diekman) who has given up eight hits and seven walks in 8 2/3 innings. The backup plan hasn't worked, with Matt Barnes' struggles continuing, this time in the form of four runs in just 2/3 innings, pushing his ERA to 8.64.
The dagger this time around came when Diekman came in with two outs and two on in the ninth inning, proceeding to surrender a game-tying single to Jared Walsh on what would be a nine-pitch at-bat. (Of the nine pitches, eight were sliders.)
There are pieces of this bullpen that certainly could be useful when piecing together the uncertain innings after each starter. But there has to be some reliability to find that final out, and, as we were reminded once again - (they are a horrific 5-for-12 in save opportunities) - that has not been locked in on.
"You guys know I like structure. I like it," said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. "We tried the whole ace reliever in 2019 if I’m not mistaken. It’s different than this, of course. We’ve got some guys where ... the three lefties gives us an advantage on certain days. Today we had the two. ... (Matt) Strahm did great. But I think it’s one of those that we would love somebody to step up and be consistent to throw strikes, go through three batters and turn the page. That’d be great so we could actually set up the sixth, the seventh, the eighth. But so far, we’ve been up and down with this. We’ve been inconsistent. Trusting the players we have, the talent we have, somebody will step up."
Unfortunately for those hoping enjoy the stylings of ace starter Garrett Whitlock, that somebody will have to be ace reliever Garrett Whitlock.
As bizarre as it may seem, it sure feels like getting that final out seems a whole lot more important than the 15 to begin the game. That is the world these Red Sox are living in.
"It all depends how you see it," Cora said of the role of Whitlock, who struck out six of the first eight batters he faced, including his first four. "He gave us 15 outs. Everybody has to do their job at the end of the day. We cannot rely on one guy. We saw what he did last year, what he did early on. He’s done an amazing job starting for us too. He did it in Tampa, in Toronto and tonight. Really doesn’t matter, he’s not going to pitch every day. The other guys have to step up and so far it’s been inconsistent."
