The Boston Red Sox are moving pitcher Walker Buehler to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora told reporters before Friday’s game against the New York Yankees.
Buehler, 31, was scheduled to start Monday versus the Baltimore Orioles before the decision was made to take him out of the starting rotation. Signed to a one-year, $21.05 million contract with the Red Sox, he will pitch in relief for the remainder of the season.
“I talked to him last night. [Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow] did, too,” Cora said, via MassLive “This is his new role. We’ll figure out how it goes — maybe one inning, multiple innings, whatever it is. We don’t know yet.”
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In 22 starts this season, Buehler has compiled a 5.40 ERA with 82 strikeouts in 110 innings. That strikeout rate of 6.7 per nine innings is the lowest of his eight MLB seasons. Buehler has also allowed 118 hits, an average of 9.7 per nine frames and 54 walks for a 4.4 per nine average that’s the highest of his career.
“It’s the first time in my career I’ve been in a situation like that,” Buehler said after the move was announced. “At the end of the day, the organization and — to a lesser extent, myself — probably think it’s the right thing for our group. It gives me an opportunity to reset in some ways.
“It’s a situation I’ve tried to avoid my whole life,” he added, “but the way this season and last season have gone for me, it’s definitely understandable and something I’m going to try to embrace for the next couple months.”
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Buehler missed the entire 2023 season after undergoing the second Tommy John surgery of his career and returned to register a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He showed improvement during the Dodgers’ postseason run to a World Series championship, striking out 13 and allowing six hits in 15 innings.
The hope was that he could show even more improvement with the Red Sox and reenter the free-agent market seeking more than a one-year, “prove it” contract. Yet he allowed nine earned runs in 9 1/3 innings during his first two starts of the season and eventually went on the IL due to right shoulder bursitis. After allowing seven runs in two innings on June 6 versus the Yankees, Buehler said he was “f***ing embarrassing.”
Prior to undergoing surgery, Buehler earned All-Star honors in 2019 and 2021, when he went a combined 30-8 with a 2.87 ERA.
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Facing the Philadelphia Phillies and San Diego Padres and allowing only one earned run in 13 total innings against two of MLB’s top teams created optimism that Buehler might be turning his season around. But then he gave up six runs in 10 total innings versus the Houston Astros and Orioles, demonstrating that he’s still not a reliable option while the Red Sox are in a playoff race.
“That’ll be in the back of my mind, that it’s in there and that I can be a successful starting pitcher. Right now, I’m just not,” Buehler said.
“For now, the offseason is going to be based around getting back to who I am as a starting pitcher,” he continued. “The next couple months will be about trying to help our team win.”
Going into Friday, Boston is third in the AL East, five games behind the Toronto Blue Jays and a half-game back from the second-place Yankees. The Red Sox hold the AL’s No. 2 wild-card playoff berth.
Who will take Buehler’s place in the rotation has not yet been announced, but Richard Fitts (4.83 ERA) and Kyle Harrison (4.56 ERA) are reportedly the leading candidates. Buehler revealed that he has talked to former teammates Daniel Hudson and David Price, both of whom transitioned from starting pitchers to relievers. He sought advice on adopting a different approach as a reliever, including a new pregame routine.
