Red Sox
“As of now, it’s one year. And hopefully it’s a few more after that.”
The Red Sox handed Walker Buehler more than $21 million in guaranteed money this winter in hopes he’d regain his form as a proven, top-of-the-rotation arm.
Sunday was an encouraging first step for Buehler, as the 30-year-old righty impressed in his first spring-training appearance with Boston. The two-time World Series champion was sharp in Boston’s 6-4 win over the Mets in Grapefruit League action, striking out four and allowing one hit and zero runs over two innings of work.
Buehler is looking for a fresh start and an opportunity to reestablish himself as a top starter with the Red Sox, who only have him under contract for the 2025 season.
From 2018-21, Buehler was one of the top young starters in baseball, posting a 39-13 record with a 2.82 ERA.
But injuries have sidelined him as of late, with a torn UCL in 2022 necessitating the need for a second Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2023 season and struggled for extended stretches of the 2024 campaign, recouping some of his value in the fall with a dominant postseason that ended with 10 scoreless innings of work in the Dodgers’ World Series run.
“He can pitch. He’s excited about the opportunity to come to a new organization and lead,” Sox manager Alex Cora told The Boston Globe’s Alex Speier of Buehler’s decision to sign a one-year deal with Boston this winter. “I’m very happy that he bet on himself, and he bet on us this year. We just have to [keep] him healthy.”
Speaking on NESN after wrapping up his outing in Fort Myers, Buehler also expressed optimism is remaining with the Red Sox beyond this season — although he’ll need to prove that on the mound in the coming months.
“I think there’s a lot of really good building blocks here, and guys that have shown they can do it at the big-league level,” Buehler said on NESN Sunday about the current state of the Red Sox. “And then kind of the next way that we keep talking about — the “Big Three” — and just kind of a chance to be more of a veteran guy and kind of try and build something special here. And as of now, it’s one year. And hopefully it’s a few more after that.”
Sunday also marked Masataka Yoshida’s first spring-training appearance this year, with the Red Sox DH working his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.
While Yoshida’s future in Boston’s lineup might be a bit murky following the arrival of Alex Bregman and the inevitable promotion of the “Big Three”, he started off strong on Sunday, driving in three runs off of two hits in his first two at-bats.
The first pitch he saw in the bottom of first inning was drilled out to right field for a ground-rule double, scoring both Triston Casas and Trevor Story. Two innings later, Yoshida drove in Story again with a single into center field.
With Yoshida’s recovering shoulder limiting him to just DH work right now, it remains to be seen how Alex Cora and the Red Sox will sort out their lineup ahead of Opening Day later this month. But Boston’s manager isn’t fretting over the roster.
“I have a pretty good idea of what I’m going to do. I’m just not going to share it with you guys,” Cora told MLB.com’s Ian Browne on Sunday . “But we have to make sure everything happens. It’s too early in spring [to announce anything]. It’s March 2.
“We’ve still got kids getting their first at-bats here. We’ll get there when we get there. Like I said, versatility is huge for me. And athleticism, that’s very important to me, too. We’ve just got to make sure we’re healthy, and we’re getting there.”
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