Red Sox‘ Walker Buehler focused on big picture amid move to bullpen: ‚I don’t think that’s going to help my starting career, but at the end of the day, it’s going to help our team.‘
The Red Sox are moving Walker Buehler to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora announced Friday afternoon.
Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to Buehler, who was in line to start Monday’s series opener in Baltimore, Thursday night. The manager didn’t announce a replacement starter or candidates to take the ball Monday.
“Professional,” Cora said of the difficult conversation with Buehler. “He’s been very frustrated with the way he has pitched.”
The right-hander, 30, pitched to a 5.40 ERA over 22 starts this season. He never minced words about his struggles to find consistency.
“It’s obviously disappointing,” said Buehler as he sat in the visitors’ dugout moments after his manager’s announcement. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been in a situation like that, but at the end of the day, the organization, and to a lesser extent myself, think it’s probably the right thing for our group and gives me an opportunity to kind of reset in some way… In terms of this year’s team, I think it’s the right thing to do. I think for me, it’s a situation I’ve tried to avoid my whole life, but the way this season and last season have gone for me, I think (it’s) definitely understandable, and something that I’m going to try and embrace for the next couple months.
