Everything was going swimmingly for Garrett Whitlock through that first month of his major league career. There were 13 1/3 innings and not a single run.
Then came some hiccups. First was that first run allowed on May 2 in Texas. Then, three days later came a mammoth, game-winning, three-run over off the bat of Detroit's Jeimer Candelario.
Something had to change and the rookie knew it. He needed another pitch.
"Maybe when Candelario hit it to Chelsea," Whitlock told WEEI.com Sunday morning when he experienced his first big-league awakening.
So, his slider was reborn.
Flash forward to Sunday against the Yankees. Whitlock was staring down at Aaron Judge -- he of the sixth-inning home run -- with the bases loaded and the New York slugger just another swing of the bat away from tying the game.
That first month, Judge would have only had to worry about two pitches from Whitlock: That 96 mph sinking fastball or what has become a devastating changeup. Not anymore.
Having thrown back-to-back fastballs to get to a 1-1 count, Whitlock dropped in his new weapon, the slider. It was a pitch the righty had thrown a total of eight times in April (4 percent of his pitches). But in June? It had become Weapon No. 3, as Judge was about to find out.
Pop-up to first baseman Danny Santana. Threat over. Another message sent.
And to make it perfectly clear that this was something more than just an experimental offering, Whitlock came back in the eighth inning he struck out Giancarlo Stanton on another slider, and then came back two get Gio Urshela to ground into an inning-ending 6-4-3 double play using the same breaking ball.
An inning later and the Red Sox were celebrating their 9-2 win and a three-game sweep over the Yankees.
So, how did this game-changing invention come along? Whitlock explained.
"You saw the hitters started sitting on changeups and fastballs so I had to have a third pitch in order to separate the difference because they would just be fine taking the fastball to the opposite field so they could be on time for the changeup," said Whitlock, who is now throwing the slider 25 percent of the time. "There were only two speeds they had to worry about. Now with the slider it's kind of three different speeds they have to worry about and two different planes because fastball and changeup both ran arm-side. Now it's something to go glove-side so they can't just sit half of a plate and sit two speeds. Now they have to try and sit three speeds and something that goes both ways. So it's just something that I had to implement so I made sure hitters weren't sitting those two pitches.
"It was probably right around the (Candelario home run). I just was like, 'Man, they're not even trying to turn on my fastball.' They were just slapping my fastball the other way. I was talking to Bushy, saying I never had that happen before. People always tried to hit my fastball and they either roll over on it and miss the changeup and stuff like that. They're big leaguers. They are the best hitters in the world so you just have to make adjustments throughout the season."
Whitlock had a history with the slider, having thrown it throughout college while leaning on it quite a bit during his time in the minors.
But once he got a hold of that changeup (thanks in large part to the tutelage of Matt Andriese), the slider -- which averages virtually identical velocity (82 mph) as his change -- was put in the back pocket.
"I was like, 'OK, I have these two pitches.' And for the first month it was working," he said. "I only needed those two and I didn't need the slider that much. Then the hitters changed their approach and so I had to counter-attack and that's when (pitching coach Dave Bush) Bushy and (bullpen coach Kevin Walker) Walk said I should implement this (slider) more so then I would have three different options they would have to go up there and look for. I was using it like four percent of the time so they would just eliminate that pitch and if I threw it they would take it. They were like, 'You're going to throw me a fastball or changeup and that is what I'm sitting on.' That was their attack so I had to change something about me to make sure I could keep attacking them."
But bringing it back was one thing, making sure it worked the right way was another.
With the help of clubhouse analyst Jeb Clarke and the pitching coaches, Whitlock started digging in on what would serve as the perfect complement to his two go-to pitches. The group would look at bullpen sessions, videos and the numbers that went with them to find the perfect presentation.
"I talked to Jeb and we were trying to get the pitch harder," Whitlock said. "Before I was more worried about the movement instead of speed and movement. Now we're implementing both of those things.
I don't understand a lot of the number things, that's why I love Bushy. He translates what Jeb is trying to tell me to something I can understand. He dumbs it down for me. That's been great. It takes a special pitching coach who can understand the analytics and be able to translate it into pitching. A lot of people can understand the analtyics but can't translate it. Or visa versa, where they know a lot about pitching but they don't know a lot about analytics. Bushy is great with both ... I wasn't pulling down through it. Now I'm just thinking get up there and pull down through it and hopefully the arm speed will take care of the velocity."
As was evident in his performance against the Yankees -- along with a run of 15 2/3 innings that has seen just one earned run -- the strategy seems to be fitting just fine.
"Now my changeup is not getting smashed around because they are sitting on two pitches and my fastball isn't being taken to the opposite field as much because they have to respect that slider, as well," Whitlock said. "I'm sure they will come up with a counter-attack and it will be something I have to make an adjustment to. It's all part of the game."