While understanding and agreeing that last night was... not good... I really hope that they give Whitlock, Bello (and Houck) extended looks in the rotation this season. For Whitlock and Houck, specifically, we have some data points to show that they are already capable of being either excellent or pretty darn useful bullpen arms, respectively, and would come in pretty cheap in such a role. This team has question mark upon question mark in the rotation and doesn't have much in the minors - at least in terms of players the prospect industry (for whatever that's worth, TINSTAAPP, etc) thinks are going to be first division starters.
The 2023 team was built exceptionally well if the goal is to have payroll flexibility in 2025-2030, but built pretty poorly if the goal was to contend for an AL East division title or making the World Series (in my opinion) in 2023. So with that as the back drop, I really hope that the young pitchers in the 2023 rotation (or Worcester) are given ample starts in the rotation to see if they can develop into long term core starting pitchers. In the case of Whitlock and Houck, we already know they can be "core" bullpen arms, but obviously having core pieces of the starting rotation would be much better.
I'm pretty sure I went with 79-83 in the "prediction" thread, but really I don't care about the +/- of two or three games (missing the playoffs by finishing 76-86 or missing the playoffs by finishing 82-78 is irrelevant to me). Spend the year trying to let the young pitchers develop the necessary tools to become effective starters as really I don't think there is a lot to lose relative to the season, but there is relative to the next contending window.
If they don't show enough improvement to believe they can do that, they slot into the bullpen for the 2025-30 window and we can (hopefully) acquire some core starting pitching in the trade / FA market.