The Pink Sox are inserting right-hander Walker Buehler on the 15-day injured record resulting from irritation in his proper shoulder, supervisor Alex Cora introduced (hyperlink through MLB.com’s Ian Browne). The membership is hopeful that it’ll solely be a minimal stint for the right-hander, who’d been slated to begin tomorrow. MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo reported earlier within the day that righty Hunter Dobbins is predicted to get tomorrow’s begin. He made his massive league debut final month and has appeared sharp by means of two MLB begins.
Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05MM take care of the Pink Sox within the offseason, matching the worth of the qualifying provide which the Dodgers uncared for to place forth when he reached the open market. It was a comparatively sizable wager on a pitcher who appeared misplaced for a lot of the 2024 season — his first full 12 months again from Tommy John surgical procedure — earlier than some quick however memorable postseason heroics for Los Angeles.
To this point, Buehler’s tenure with the Pink Sox has produced pedestrian outcomes. He’s sitting on a 4.28 ERA with higher strikeout and stroll charges than he had in 2024 but additionally a career-low 93.5 mph common fastball. And whereas his 20.7% strikeout charge and 6.4% stroll charge are certainly enhancements on final 12 months’s marks (18.6 Okay%, 8.1 BB%), that strikeout charge is a far cry from his peak 29.2% when he was pitching like a bona fide ace and Cy Younger contender.
Buehler heads to the injured record simply days after Boston lastly acquired right-hander Lucas Giolito wholesome and into a daily season sport. Giolito required UCL surgical procedure final spring and missed the entire 2024 season and the primary month of 2025 consequently. The Sox have additionally been with out Kutter Crawford (knee) all 12 months and have solely obtained two begins from Brayan Bello.
Even with all of the accidents, Pink Sox starters rank 14th within the majors with a strong 3.91 ERA. Ideally, Buehler will rejoin the beginning employees in a pair weeks, but when he requires a little bit of a lengthier keep, Dobbins has appeared as much as the duty of filling in. The 2021 eighth-rounder pitched 125 2/3 innings of two.61 ERA ball between Double-A and Triple-A final 12 months. In 11 main league frames this season, he’s held opponents to a few earned runs (2.45 ERA) on 11 hits and a pair of walks with 11 strikeouts. In Dobbins’ most up-to-date Triple-A begin, he held the Mets’ prime affiliate to a run 4 hits and two walks with three punchouts throughout six innings.
