It's easy to forget, even now, how inexperienced Garrett Whitlock is.
Until he made the roster in spring training as a Rule 5 pick, Whitlock had never pitched above Double-A. But right from the start of the season, what struck the Red Sox was how preternaturally composed Whitlock was. He never seemed overwhelmed by his new environment, never appeared to be over his head.
That was true in March and April. It continued as the Red Sox gained additional trust in him and began utilizing him in more high-leverage situations. And it was true Monday night as the Red Sox tried to close out the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 4 of the Division Series.
The Sox had let a 5-0 lead in the third slowly trickle away. Tanner Houck wasn't as sharp as he'd been in Game 2 and was hit hard in an inning of work. Ryan Brasier, who had overcome a season full of obstacles to become as reliable a late-inning arm as anyone on the staff, couldn't retire any of the three batters he faced, and the Rays were suddenly, improbably, tied with the Sox, 5-5.
Had there been an arrow on the Fenway scoreboard indicating which team had the momentum, it would have pointed -- fully and totally -- toward the Rays.
Then in the eighth, with the game suddenly tied, the Sox cast their lot with Whitlock. Pitching with the guile of a 10-year veteran, Whitlock faced six hitters in the eighth and ninth and retired them all, in order.
Suddenly, the Sox weren't leaking oil all over the Fenway lawn anymore. Suddenly, their situation had stabilized. And when the Sox rallied for the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, Whitlock was the winning pitcher in the series-clinching victory that sent Boston to the ALCS against either Houston or Chicago.
"People still call him the secret weapon. It's no secret anymore,'' marveled Kike Hernandez. "Garrett Whitlock is legit. That is an electric arm with three-plus pitches. It's not every day that a Rule 5 draft pick gets to close out a Wild Card game and then win a game that wins a Division Series. You don't see that every day. His composure, his stuff, the way he prepares, the way he goes about his business, it's as professional as it gets. It's so easy to forget that he's this young and that has (this) little experience because he just gets the job done, day in and day out.
"It never seems like the situation is too big or the game speeds up on him. I'm glad he's on our side and not the other guys' side.''
The bullpen advantage in this Division Series was supposed to be on the side of the Rays. They, not the Red Sox, had what Kevin Cash famously last year called 'a whole damn stable of pitchers who throw 98 mph.'' And in both Games 3 and 4, Cash seemed intent on bringing every one of them into the game. The Rays paraded nine relievers in Sunday's marathon and eight on Monday.
But none could match what Whitlock did. Naturally, true to form, he seemed blissfully unaware of the cauldron into which he was entering.
"It was a cool situation to come into,'' he said, "and I was just trying to get outs right away.''
Whitlock, in fact, was so locked in on the task at hand, that he couldn't recall what manager Alex Cora had said to him, or how Cora was acting.
"I couldn't tell you,'' he said matter-of-factly. "I was focused on who the next hitters were and trying to get them out. Sorry.''
It's that kind of single-mindedness of purpose that has enabled Whitlock to be so effective, and to thrive in a pressurized environment. Which isn't to say that he's some bloodless character, unaware of what's at stake. He somewhat bashfully conceded that, even as he gives off the look of a pitcher far beyond his actual level of experience, the adrenaline was pumping.
"I would like to say it's not,'' he said, "but it's definitely pumping. And you know the situation and everything. So I just try and take a deep breath and take it in and try to execute a plan. Anyone who tells you they don't (have butterflies) they're lying to you.''
When his teammates rallied in the bottom of the ninth, Whitlock found himself the pitcher of record. It was then, and only then, that he allowed himself to take in the scene. After spending the eighth and ninth thinking only about his pitches, the hitters he was facing and Christian Vazquez's target, Whitlock experienced the moment.
"I took a second to kind of step back and look at the crowd,'' he said, "look how everyone was reacting and cheering and everything. It was a lot of run just to soak up everything and just enjoy the moment.''
After what he had helped his team accomplish, he deserved that much anyway.