Whitlock secured a spot in the Red Sox's Opening Day rotation Friday, Chad Jennings of The Athletic reports.
Whitlock and Tanner Houck will fill the final two spots, with Cooper Criswell joining the Triple-A Worcester rotation after getting optioned Friday. Whitlock earned the gig by collecting a 3.45 ERA and 16:2 K:BB over 15.2 Grapefruit League innings. The Red Sox surely will have to manage Whitlock's workload, given that he hasn't reached even 100 innings since 2018 because of injuries and bullpen work. He's fully stretched out right now, however, and makes for a viable late-round target for those who have fantasy drafts this weekend.