Latest news with #Buehler
Boston Globe
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Lucas Giolito gives the Red Sox a boost but more pitching help is needed
'That was what we needed,' catcher Carlos Narváez said. 'He threw his three off-speed pitches nearly half the time. The fastball today was good at the top of the zone. 'You take away a few games and he's been really good, in my mind one of the top 20 guys in the league.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Giolito's reliability has played a big role in the Red Sox contending for a playoff spot with 53 games remaining. Advertisement 'The last month and half, he's been solid,' manager Alex Cora said. 'That's what we need. Not only an innings-eater but a guy who can pitch quality innings.' Giolito left two runners stranded in the first inning when he retired Kody Clemens — Roger's son — on a fly ball to center field. Giolito retired 13 of 14 before the Twins manufactured a run in the fifth. He then ended a two-out rally in the sixth by striking out Harrison Bader. That ended his night after 101 pitches. 'We ran into some trouble, fifth and sixth inning, some long, long counts,' Giolito said. 'Too many pitches, but it was good to complete six and take a little bit of pressure off.' Advertisement After not pitching last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery and pitching for three teams in 2023, Giolito has enjoyed being part of a group again. 'I'm very much focused internally on the team, the clubhouse, winning baseball games,' he said. Then taking the next step into October. A postseason rotation of Garrett Crochet, Bryan Bello, and Giolito would be formidable. As it stands today, Walker Buehler would be the No. 4 starter. He's 6-6 with a 5.72 ERA. But Buehler has an excellent playoff pedigree — 10-3 with a 3.04 ERA in 19 games, 18 of them starts. His one relief appearance was a perfect ninth inning to close out the final game of the World Series last season. The Sox would probably be inclined to lean on that history and keep Buehler in the rotation for the postseason. But here's the thing: They need to get there first. As relatively solid as their first four starters, there is no fifth starter on the roster at the moment unless you count righthander Cooper Criswell, who was summoned from Triple A Worcester on Tuesday to supplement the bullpen. Criswell has not started a major league game this season. He is 4-2 with a 3.28 ERA in 16 starts for Worcester. We all get caught up in numbering starters. But as teams fight for playoff spots, that's meaningless. What counts is giving the team a chance to win the game and not leaving the bullpen in tatters for the next day. Advertisement As they pursue a postseason berth, the Sox should have better rotation options than Criswell, Richard Fitts or a bullpen game. But that depends on chief baseball officer Craig Breslow acting with nerve, not caution, as Thursday's trade deadline approaches. Giolito and the rest of the players are waiting to see what happens. 'I'm curious,' Giolito said. 'That's for all the people upstairs to deal with. But definitely curious to see how we add.' How or if? That's the question. Peter Abraham can be reached at
Boston Globe
4 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Walker Buehler to cap off reunion with Dodgers by facing his former team for the first time
'It's going to be interesting,' Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. 'Walker and I have spent a lot of time together. I'm sure there will be emotions.' Buehler came out of the bullpen to get the final three outs of the World Series against the Yankees on Oct. 30, then agreed to a one-year contract with the Red Sox on Dec. 28. He received his World Series ring and some other mementos from the Dodgers before the game on Friday, then posed for a photo with a number of former teammates. Advertisement 'Kind of a fun weekend,' Buehler said. Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Buehler was 5-6 with a 6.03 earned run average through his first 14 starts with the Red Sox. He has allowed six earned runs over 18 innings in three starts since, securing his place in the rotation. 'The fans [in Boston] are long and loud and kind of similar in a lot of ways to LA,' Buehler said. 'It's been a really fun year outside of some of the playing stuff for me but in terms of my family, we love it here.' Buehler said he had conversations with the Dodgers about returning but it didn't work out. He wasted little time before reaching an agreement with the Sox. Advertisement 'They had guys they wanted to sign and I signed at a place where I wanted to play,' Buehler said. Buehler made only 28 starts from 2022-24 because of injuries and was 7-9 with a 4.75 ERA. The Dodgers signed Blake Snell to a five-year, $137 million deal. But he has made only two starts because of shoulder inflammation. Roki Sasaki , their other major rotation addition, had a 4.72 ERA over eights starts and hasn't pitched since May 9 because of shoulder impingement. 'I wouldn't change anything about my career except getting hurt,' Buehler said. 'I enjoyed my time [with the Dodgers]. A lot of those playoff runs, I think I've grown and probably learned a lot about myself.' Slaten making progress Righthanded reliever Justin Slaten expected to miss maybe two weeks when he went on the injured list with a sore shoulder on June 1 in Atlanta. 'Just general fatigue, just get ahead of it,' Slaten said at the time. 'Give it a little time to calm down.' Nearly two months later, he has yet to get back on the mound. But Slaten has at least advanced to playing catch multiple times a week and hopes to get back on the mound in the next 7-10 days. 'It's going really well right now,' Slaten said. 'The last week and a half, two weeks, have been very positive. I've seen a ton of progress. My shoulder feels normal now. Any soreness is what would be typical after I played catch.' Alex Cora said the Sox are confident Slaten will return to the roster this season. Slaten is 7-6 with a 3.09 ERA and five saves in 68 games since being selected in the 2023 Rule 5 Draft. Advertisement No update on Mayer Marcelo Mayer went on the injured list Friday with what was termed a sprained right wrist. The team has yet to offer further details as to the severity of the injury. Cora said Mayer is getting tests and will see a specialist. The rookie infielder has started 44 games since making his debut on May 24 … Mookie Betts was out of the Dodgers lineup for the second consecutive game but rejoined the team after traveling to Tennessee to attend to a personal matter. He will likely be in the lineup on Sunday … Liam Hendriks , who hasn't pitched since May 27, was on the field playing catch at 2 p.m. The 36-year-old righthander is on the injured list with inflammation in his right hip but hopes to return this season … Cora, hitting coach Pete Fatse , and hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin were among the estimated 3,000 runners and walkers who took part in the annual Run to Home Base on Saturday morning. Richard Fitts and Tanner Houck walked the course. The event, which has raised $48 million over the years, helps fund clinical care and support for veterans and families impacted by mental health challenges as a result of their service … Kaz Uehara , the son of former Red Sox closer Koji Uehara , was on the field before the game. Kaz is an outfielder at Wofford University and is playing for Oneonta this summer in the Perfect Game Collegiate League in upstate New York. Peter Abraham can be reached at
Los Angeles Times
5 days ago
- Sport
- Los Angeles Times
Facing Dodgers for first time gives Walker Buehler chance to reflect on his time in L.A.
BOSTON — It had been nine months since Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo, stretched his arms on the Yankee Stadium mound, and was dogpiled after recording the final outs of last year's World Series. But on Friday afternoon, ahead of Buehler's first reunion with the Dodgers since departing for the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, the memory remained vividly fresh — for him, his former teammates and coaches, and even a traveling contingent of Dodgers fans in town for this weekend's series at Fenway Park. As Buehler chatted with members of his old organization hours before Friday's series opener, Dodger fans taking a pregame tour of the stadium spotted him on the diamond. Within moments, an otherwise empty ballpark was echoing with cheers and applause, the fans shouting Buehler's name as he acknowledged them with a wave of his hand. 'That was really cool,' Buehler said later, the moment reminding him of a conversation he had with Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser (a World Series hero of a different generation who became a mentor of Buehler's during his time with the team). 'Talking to Orel about some of that stuff that he's gone through and the way people react to him, I think it's obviously two different situations,' he added. 'But for the fans walking around to yell at me, I kind of imagine in L.A. it'll be like that for a while, I hope.' Indeed, if there was any doubt about how Buehler's Dodgers tenure was destined to be remembered, his role in last year's World Series enshrined it in legendary status. No, the right-hander didn't quite reach the Cy Young-winning expectations many had when he first came up as a highly touted prospect with a big fastball and fiery mound presence. For as dominant as he was from 2018-2021, when he went 39-13 with a 2.82 earned-run average and two All-Star selections, the end of his seven-year stint was derailed by a 2022 Tommy John surgery (the second of his career) and a disappointing regular-season performance upon his return in 2024 (when he was 1-6 in the regular season with a 5.38 ERA). Buehler's best Dodger moments, though, always came in the postseason: From his division-clinching gem in Game 163 as a rookie in 2018, to his 1.80 ERA in five starts during the Dodgers' 2020 World Series run, to when he took the ball on short rest twice in a failed title defense in 2021, to his 10 consecutive scoreless innings in the final two rounds of last year's postseason most of all; an unexpected star turn following his post-Tommy John struggles throughout the summer. 'That moment means a lot to all of us, that we were a part of it with the city and the fans that came out every day for us there,' he said, while talking to reporters in the Red Sox's home dugout. 'I think it would have been hard to leave that for anywhere — except for here.' While Buehler expressed interest in remaining with the Dodgers ahead of his free agency last winter, his eventual departure became clear in the first week of the offseason. The team didn't extend him a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer — which ended up being the same amount he signed for with the Red Sox. The Dodgers instead went after Blake Snell with a $182-million contract, and won the January sweepstakes for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki. 'It was an interesting situation. I think there's obviously two sides to that situation,' Buehler said when reflecting back on his free agency. 'We had conversations about it, we talked through it. And they went and signed guys that they wanted to sign. And I signed with a place that I wanted to play. It kind of is what it is.' In hindsight, it was an outcome neither side seemed to be regret. In Buehler's absence, the Dodgers have managed to work around first-half injuries to several key starters, and are on track to have a potential postseason rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Snell (who could return from a shoulder injury after one last minor-league rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday). Meanwhile, Buehler said he has enjoyed playing for the Red Sox, even though he has regressed with a woeful 5.72 ERA (sixth-worst in the majors among 107 pitchers with at least 80 innings). 'It's been a really fun year, outside of some of the playing stuff for me,' he said. 'But my family and me, we're loving it here and have felt really very welcomed here, as well, just like we were in LA.' Buehler has been better lately, giving up just three earned runs in his last 18 innings to help the Red Sox maintain the final wild-card spot in the American League. His next start, fittingly, will come in Sunday's series-finale against the Dodgers. 'It'll be interesting,' Buehler said with a laugh. 'Obviously, I was one of the last of the wave coming up there. So I've kind of got little bits and pieces of it playing against Joc [Pederson] and [Cody Bellinger] and Corey [Seager]. So it'll be nine of those for me, I guess.' Buehler wished he could have squared off against Clayton Kershaw; something he said he and the future Hall of Fame left-hander (who will instead pitch Saturday's game) joked about while meeting up on Thursday's off day. Still, Buehler added, 'I think you just try to keep it as normal as you can. Obviously it'll be a little awkward or funny or whatever. But I don't know. At the end of the day, we're all playing a sport for a paycheck. The goal is go and to get one over on them. I don't think the preparation against them is really different.' Friday, on the other hand, was a day for nostalgia, with Buehler receiving his World Series ring from Dodgers manager Dave Roberts and most of the remaining players from last year's team during pregame batting practice. 'I was very fortunate to be drafted and developed and get to spend so much time there,' Buehler said. 'Should credit a lot of good success that I've had to them, and how they handled and treated me. Nothing but good things to say there.' As for if his ring — a diamond-studded reminder of what, for now at least, remains the lasting image of his Dodgers career — gave him any closure, Buehler smirked. 'I think you already have it,' he said. 'But I think everyone kind of knows I'm on a one-year contract, so you never know what's going to happen down the road.' The Dodgers were without shortstop Mookie Betts, who was home in Nashville with his family attending to a personal matter. Roberts said Betts was expected to rejoin the club on Saturday, but was unsure if he'd be back in the starting lineup for that day's game.
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Red Sox' Walker Buehler, World Series hero for Dodgers, to receive ring in reunion Friday
Buehler doesn't want any hoopla, though. Instead of a public, on-field moment — which is common in these situations — Buehler communicated to the Dodgers that they should 'just hand it to me' privately. He suspects Clayton Kershaw and perhaps manager Dave Roberts will be tasked with the delivery. Advertisement 'I haven't seen any of those guys in a long time, so it'll be fun,' Buehler said. 'I told them I just want them to bring it over. I don't want a whole thing.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up After a decade in the organization, including eight seasons in the majors, Buehler's last moment in a Dodgers uniform came in the clinching Game 5 against the Yankees. On one day of rest, he appeared out of the bullpen to toss a perfect ninth inning, striking out Alex Verdugo for the final out. It was a fitting conclusion to Buehler's time as an October stalwart for a perennial contender. His lifetime postseason numbers include a 10-3 record, 3.04 ERA, and 114 strikeouts in 94⅔ innings across 19 games. That title felt different, Buehler said, than 2020, when the Dodgers won it all in the pandemic-shortened season. Advertisement 'I said it literally five minutes after the game: Nobody can say [expletive] about this one,' he said. Reminiscing and reunions aside, the Dodgers will be another tough matchup for Buehler, who owns a 5.72 ERA this season but has been better lately. They lead the majors with 5.31 runs per game. 'This team is a good litmus test for where you're at,' Buehler said. 'The new thing in baseball is being extremely disciplined and hitting the ball for power. Honestly, they're probably the best team in the game at doing that, taking walks and hitting homers. So, you've got to throw strikes and try to get guys who don't miss much to miss … or keep them in the ballpark when they're guys who know how to hit homers.' Related : Manager Alex Cora said: 'He grew up as a Dodger, won two [World Series] with them. He was really good with them. I bet there's going to be a lot of emotions. But talking to him, he's downplaying it. He's trying to help us get to the next level. That's why he signed with us. What we have seen the last two, three [starts], he's getting to the point where every five days, it's going to be fun.' Answering the call In the seventh inning against the Phillies on Wednesday night, when the bullpen doors opened and the closer emerged, the Red Sox' season reached a new, more urgent, perhaps more desperate stage. Advertisement Cora called on Aroldis Chapman for four outs, the first time in more than a year that the lefthander went more than an inning. Just a day prior, Cora said he didn't want to do that with Chapman yet because 'it's too early,' but he would eventually. 'It's July 22,' Cora said Tuesday. 'This guy is very important for us. He's done an amazing job so far. And we expect him to keep going that way. When the time comes, we'll do it.' The time came in an J.T. Realmuto with two outs in the eighth but said he felt strong in the outing — in which he threw just 14 pitches — and is ready to handle more than an inning more often in a playoff push. Chapman hasn't done that much lately. Including Wednesday, he has just five appearances of more than three outs in the last seven regular seasons. In the four years before that, he did it 15 times. Chapman said he has not discussed it with Cora. 'And I don't think there is a need for [a conversation],' Chapman said through an interpreter. 'The game situation will dictate when they need me. I'll be ready for that situation.' Marquee matchup Highlighting the Dodgers-Red Sox pitching probables is a duel of lefthanders Saturday night: Garrett Crochet vs. Kershaw. On Friday, it'll be Brayan Bello and Emmet Sheehan . On Sunday, Buehler vs. Dustin May … Shohei Ohtani is slated only to hit during the series … Roberts told reporters in Los Angeles that Mookie Betts might not be with the team Friday to tend to a personal matter. Advertisement Tim Healey can be reached at
Boston Globe
21-07-2025
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Game 102: Red Sox at Phillies lineups and notes
Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up 'It's nice to go through a week of prep, the five days or whatever, and not feel like I should just retire,' Buehler said after facing Tampa Bay. 'I don't think I'm going to retire anytime soon, but you get into some really dark places and that's what happens.' Advertisement The Phillies will counter with Zack Wheeler, who is in the Cy Young race after a solid first half. In his final start before the All-Star break, he allowed four runs on six hits in six innings of a 5-4 loss to the Padres on July 12. Advertisement Here is a preview Lineups RED SOX (54-47): TBA Pitching: RHP Walker Buehler (6-6, 6.12 ERA) PHILLIES (56-43): TBA Pitching: RHP Zack Wheeler (9-3, 2.36 ERA) Time: 6:45 p.m. TV, radio: NESN, WEEI-FM 93.7 Red Sox vs. Wheeler: Alex Bregman 1-6, Jarren Duran 2-6, Ceddanne Rafaela 0-2, Rob Refsnyder 0-2, Trevor Story 2-5, Connor Wong 1-5, Masataka Yoshida 1-5 Phillies vs. Buehler: Nick Castellanos 2-9, Bryce Harper 2-3, Brandon Marsh 1-1, J.T. Realmuto 2-12, Kyle Schwarber 2-8, Edmundo Sosa 1-2, Bryson Stott 2-2, Trea Turner 0-8 Stat of the day: The Red Sox are 9-3 so far in a stretch of 18 of the 22 games from June 30-July 27 against National League opponents. Notes: The Red Sox are 16-16 in series openers. They are Sox are 8-4 in their last 12 series since June 6. … Buehler is 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA in four appearances (three starts) against Phillies. … With Sunday's win, the Red Sox improved to 5-31 when trailing after six innings, and 17-33 when the opponent scores first. … The Red Sox are 18-12 against the National League. … Wheeler has made three starts against the Red Sox, going 2-1 with a 2.75 ERA. Follow Andrew Mahoney
