Red Sox pitcher: ‘I think I was the worst guy on the team last year’

The Red Sox plan to use Garrett Whitlock as a starter in 2023. (AP Photo/Winslow Townson)AP

“I’ll be the first to say, I think I was the worst guy on the team last year,” Whitlock said at Red Sox Winter Weekend on Saturday. “So I think I need to pick it up a lot. I think AC (Alex Cora) would tell you that. I think anyone who saw me last year would tell you that. I’ve put a lot on myself to try and really step it up.”

The righty spent 27 games on the injured list with right elbow ulnar neuritis and 32 games on the IL with an elbow bone bruise. He began his 2023 season as a starter, posting a 5.23 ERA and 1.32 WHIP in 10 starts. The Red Sox moved him to the bullpen after his second arm injury and things didn’t go much better with a 4.95 ERA in 12 outings (20 innings).

“This is the first offseason I’ve been healthy in a while,” Whitlock said. “So I took advantage of it. I took one week off at the end of the season and I went straight back and got to work in the gym. I just basically wanted to do that: Build strength and build it the right way. Just kind of focus on rebuilding the right muscles, the right strength and everything like that to kind of be as healthy as I can be.”

Whitlock underwent hip surgery at the end of the 2022 season and it limited him during the 2022-23 offseason. He actually began the first 10 games of ‘23 on the IL while still rehabbing from it.

“Basically making sure my shoulder is strong enough to be able to withstand everything, whatever workload comes my way,” Whitlock said. “Obviously it all starts from the ground up. So really building my legs and core and everything like that to just kind of be able to handle the full 162.”

As of now, the Red Sox plan to use Whitlock as a starter in 2024. He said he “genuinely needs to be stronger.”

“I was barely walking in November last year,” he said. “So that was a little different. So I definitely lost some strength and everything. So it’s just getting back to that point of being healthy and being strong.

“Health is a big thing and then just going deep into the game every single time,” Whitlock added.