Rejoice, Boston Red Sox fans, for starting pitching help is on the way.
Here is the latest from Chris Cotillo of Mass Live:
The Red Sox are no strangers to injured pitchers, with Walker Buehler, Kutter Crawford, and Richard Fitts on the 15-day IL, and Brayan Bello was in the same boat at the start of the regular season.
Boston’s depth has answered the bell, with guys like Sean Newcomb and Hunter Dobbins providing quality innings.
However, neither of them is Buehler.
While injuries have dented his potential, Buehler is still one of the better arms in baseball. The 30-year-old has thrown 747 and 1/3 Big League innings with a 3.31 ERA, a 3.54 FIP, two All-Star Game nods, and a pair of top-nine Cy Young finishes (ninth in 2019 with, fourth in 2021, both with the Los Angeles Dodgers).
Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora is seen before a game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field.
Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images
Buehler was off to a solid start in his Boston tenure, too, with a 4.28 ERA, a 4.30 FIP, and 29 strikeouts to nine walks over six starts.
While those are not the most impressive stats, it is important to remember that they are inflated by a rough two initial outings, where he allowed nine of his 16 total earned runs this year.
He did miss all of 2023 after recovering from Tommy John surgery, and the right shoulder inflammation which has sidelined him lately is cause for concern. In an ideal world, the Red Sox could monitor his innings until the latter half of the year and expend him during a potential postseason push.
But, as Boston has limped to an underwhelming 20-20 record, Buehler is needed on the mound sooner rather than later. Hopefully for the Red Sox, he can stay there for the rest of the summer.
