Walker Buehler is familiar with a six-man rotation structure and if the Boston Red Sox decide to go that route, the 30-year-old will be ready.
Buehler, fresh off winning the World Series, pitched out of a six-man rotation with the Los Angeles Dodgers last season. So, the possibility of maintaining a role in a similar rotation, this time with the Red Sox, didn’t deter Buehler from signing with Boston this offseason — joining Garrett Crochet, Tanner Houck, Brayan Bello, Kutter Crawford, Lucas Giolito Garrett Whitlock and Patrick Sandoval in a crowded staff.
“I’ve always been fine with the five day and years that I’ve been healthy, we go on five or six. It doesn’t really matter to me,” Buehler told reporters Friday on a Zoom call. “Obviously, I’ve experienced both and have been a part of both so when we talked about it, it was kind of that like, is there a potential that we would do a six-man. I know (Giolito) is supposed to be ready in spring and Sandoval coming later in the year.”
Buehler added: “I think there’s pros and cons to both and I think at the end of the year, that six-man probably played some dividends for us. But also you gotta get there and kind of play it as it lies a little bit.”
Boston bore the brunt of a crippling rotation hampered by injuries, which started once Giolito, last offseason’s free agency splash, suffered a season-ending elbow injury during spring training. Whitlock, soon after, went down as well and logged just four starts while the team endured a third straight postseason miss.
Buehler is hoping the pendulum swings in Boston’s favor this upcoming go-around.
Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow took a significantly more engaged approach this offseason, first by adding to the bullpen — signing Justin Wilson and Aroldis Chapman — and then improving the rotation with a trio of moves.
Breslow’s strives caught Buehler’s eyes.
“Obviously, trading for Crochet was huge,” Buehler said. “He has some of the best stuff in the big leagues and a guy that I know a little bit. Giolito and I have been buddies for a long time and then the younger guys there Bello and Houck and signing Sandoval. So there’s just a lot of talent, a lot of guys that can spin the ball well. I gotta learn a change-up from some of these guys. They got better ones than me.”
Buehler went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA, making 16 starts amid a down year with the Dodgers. But the right-hander joins the Red Sox with a career 2.27 ERA, two All-Star nominations, and a fourth-place finish in the National League Cy Young Award race in 2021. Considering how 2024 unfolded, Buehler, like Boston, has plenty of fuel for motivation.
