Red Sox Move Walker Buehler to Bullpen
The [Boston Red Sox](/mlb/team/_/name/bos/boston-red-sox) have decided to move Walker Buehler from his starting role to the bullpen. This decision, announced by manager Alex Cora, seeks to restructure the team’s strategy.The next scheduled Buehler start would have been the start of a four-game series in [Baltimore](/mlb/team/_/name/bal/baltimore-orioles) on Monday. The Red Sox have not yet announced who will take his place. Among the options to replace Buehler are right-handed pitcher Richard Fitts and left-handed pitcher Kyle Harrison, who is in Triple A. The latter was acquired in the Rafael Devers trade.“This will be his new role,” Cora said before the Red Sox continued a four-game series against the [Yankees](/mlb/team/_/name/nyy/new-york-yankees). “We’ll see how it works, maybe one inning, multiple innings. Whatever, we still don’t know.”
Alex Cora, Red Sox Manager
In his first season with the Red Sox, after seven seasons with the [Dodgers](/mlb/team/_/name/lad/los-angeles-dodgers), Buehler has a 7-7 record with a 5.40 ERA in 22 starts and has allowed 21 home runs, the most in his career. He had a promising start with a 4-1 record and a 4.28 ERA in his first six starts, but his performance declined to 3-6 with a 6.37 ERA in his last 16 outings. In addition, he missed two weeks in May due to bursitis in his throwing shoulder. Cora expressed her support for Buehler, highlighting his importance to the team despite recent challenges. Buehler’s last outing was in the 11-inning loss against the Orioles, where he allowed two runs in four innings, throwing 75 pitches. It was the ninth time this season that he didn’t complete five innings. Buehler has also issued 54 walks in 110 innings this season, representing a personal record of 4.4 walks per nine innings. In December, the Red Sox signed Buehler to a one-year contract for $21.05 million, which includes performance bonuses of $2.5 million. The deal also includes a signing bonus of $3.05 million and a mutual option of $25 million for 2026 with a $3 million buyout. Buehler had a 1-6 record with an ERA of 5.38 and pitched 75⅓ innings in the 2024 regular season for the Dodgers, after missing all of 2023 due to Tommy John surgery. He helped the Dodgers win their second championship since 1988, with a 1-1 record and an ERA of 3.60, and pitched a perfect ninth for the save in Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees. Buehler’s only previous experience as a reliever was eight appearances in 2017. His last relief appearance was June 28, 2018. Buehler, a two-time All-Star in 2019 and 2021, has a 54-29 record in 153 appearances. In 2021, he finished fourth in the voting for the National League Cy Young Award after posting a 16-4 record with a 2.47 ERA in 33 starts, pitching 207⅔ innings.“Obviously it’s disappointing,” Buehler said. “It’s the first time in my career that I’m in a situation like this, but at the end of the day, the organization and, to a lesser extent, myself, believe it’s probably the right thing for our group and gives me a chance to kind of reset.”
Walker Buehler
