This time last year, Garrett Whitlock was gearing up to be a critical piece of the Boston Red Sox’s starting rotation.

His season started strong after he posted a 1.96 ERA in 18.1 innings. But after his fourth start on April 16, Whitlock and the Red Sox realized something was wrong, and scans showed UCL damage in the righty’s throwing arm. On May 30, Whitlock underwent the internal brace procedure, his second UCL repair surgery in his career.

The 28-year-old is still recovering from the surgery and hasn’t yet appeared in a spring training game. Still, Red Sox manager Alex Cora is “100 percent” certain that Whitlock will be ready for Opening Day, according to Ian Browne of MLB.com.

Cora’s confidence in his pitcher’s status is reassuring — his Opening Day update comes before Whitlock has seen game action and just nine months after the internal brace procedure, which is advertised to have a shorter recovery period than Tommy John surgery. Lucas Giolito also underwent the internal brace procedure a few months before Whitlock last year, and Boston expects both pitchers to be ready for action by March 27.

Alex Cora is ‘100 percent’ certain Garrett Whitlock will be ready for game action by Red Sox Opening Day

In the earlier part of Whitlock’s recovery, the Red Sox used a week-on, week-off strategy to keep him on track. Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic explained it as “weeks of heavy throwing followed by weeks of recovery.” That structure seems to work as Whitlock gears up for game action just nine months after his UCL repair. Boston has begun transitioning Whitlock off his previous throwing schedule and he’s a full-go for the rest of spring training.

Whitlock will move to the bullpen this coming season, most likely in a multi-inning relief role. He has earned some consideration for the team’s closer spot, but there’s quite a bit of competition for the job with Liam Hendriks, Aroldis Chapman, Luis Guerrero and Justin Slaten also in the running.

Whitlock has had trouble staying off the injured list in past seasons. If he can stay healthy this year, he’s sure to be a critical piece of Boston’s bullpen, and Cora already has him penciled in for a breakout season.