The book has officially closed on Walker Buehler’s time with the Boston Red Sox, but another chapter of the right-hander’s career is just beginning.
After signing a one-year, $21 million contract to come to Boston in December, Buehler put together his most unproductive season as a big-leaguer to this point. In 112 1/3 innings, he had a 5.45 ERA, 1.56 WHIP, and career-worst 55 walks surrendered.
However, as bad as he was for the Red Sox, when Boston released him on Friday, it was only a matter of time before he landed a new discount with a World Series contender, because of the pitcher he’s been throughout his career when the lights are brightest.
On Sunday, ESPN’s Buster Olney reported that the Philadelphia Phillies had signed Buehler to a major league contract. It was the final day for players to sign with new teams and still be eligible for postseason play, so the Red Sox certainly did a favor to the 30-year-old veteran.
For as tough as his season was with the Red Sox, Buehler pitched well on the team’s trip to Philadelphia in July, allowing two earned runs in seven innings while matching up with Phillies ace Zack Wheeler.
Buehler’s regular-season struggles weren’t all that unfamiliar, because he had virtually the same numbers in a smaller sample size a year ago — 5.38 ERA in 75 innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers. But in the postseason, he was money, putting up a streak of 10 scoreless innings in his final three outings and closing out the deciding game of the World Series against the New York Yankees.
In 94 2/3 innings in the playoffs, Buehler has a career 3.04 ERA, striking out 114 batters. In the World Series, he’s been at his absolute best, posting a 0.47 ERA across 19 1/3 innings in three trips to the Fall Classic with the Dodgers.
The Phillies, as a keen observer might note, are in the National League, not the American League with the Red Sox. So to some degree, this signing could be good news for the Red Sox, because if Buehler had signed with, say, the New York Yankees, he could have had a shot to take down his old team in the playoffs and embarrass them for letting him go.
However, if the Phillies and Red Sox somehow meet in the World Series, Boston had better hope Buehler isn’t at his best.
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