Red Sox
“That means he’s essentially turning everyone he pitches against into 1958 Willie Mays.”
The 2025 Red Sox are on a roll.
But even with Boston entering the All-Star Break with a 10-game win streak, it hasn’t been the smoothest season for several players — headlined by veteran righty Walker Buehler.
While both Lucas Giolio (0.70 ERA in his last six starts) and Brayan Bello (2.61 ERA in his last seven starts) are pitching like true stalwarts behind Garrett Crochet in Boston’s rotation, the same can’t be said for Buehler.
After signing a one-year, $21 million contract with Boston in the offseason, Buehler is in the midst of his worst full season as a pro. Through 16 starts with the Red Sox, Buehler is 6-6 with a 6.12 ERA.
After sporting an 11.07 ERA across five outings in June, Buehler did rebound by giving up three runs over six innings in a win over Tampa on Thursday night. It marked the first time Buehler recorded at least six innings of work since June 11.
Given his struggles — especially when contrasted with his high price tag this season — Buehler was given the American League “Cy Yuk” Award for the first half of the 2025 season by The Athletic’s Jayson Stark.
A play off of the Cy Young Award — doled out to the top pitcher each season in both the American and National Leagues — Stark’s “Cy Yuk” marks the worst starting pitcher in each league.
“It was only nine months ago that Walker Buehler was an official World Series hero, which was a cool way to say farewell to the only team he’d ever pitched for, the Dodgers. But life on the other side of World Series parties comes with no guarantees of future performance. And Boston could tell you all about that,” Stark wrote of Buehler.
Among the several stats that Stark pointed to when dissecting Buehler’s game, the longtime baseball scribe was surprised that the righty’s numbers were actually worse away from a supposed hitter’s ballpark at Fenway Park.
“Would you believe opposing hitters have a slash line of .342/.405/.581 against him away from Fenway? That means he’s essentially turning everyone he pitches against into 1958 Willie Mays (.347/.419/.583),” Stark added.
Despite his extended struggles as of late, Buehler felt encouraged by his last outing against Tampa and the momentum that he hopes to carry over once Boston resumes play after the Midsummer Classic.
“It’s nice to go through a week of prep, the five days or whatever, and not feel like I should just retire,” Buehler told reporters at Fenway Park after his start on Thursday. “I don’t think I’m going to retire anytime soon, but you get into some really dark places and that’s what happens.”
“To get back to that feeling instead of kind of pure panic of, ‘How could I ever get anyone out?’ I think more so even than what happens on the field, I think that feeling is important for me,” Buehler added. “It makes me really excited about not only our group, but hopefully being a part of it for kind of this run at the end.”
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