The Boston Red Sox have added another big name to their revamped pitching rotation after signing Walker Buehler to a one-year contract.
The deal will see the Los Angeles Dodgers postseason hero earn $21.05 million according to ESPN, along with $2.5 million in performance related incentives.
Buehler’s signing is the latest move by the Red Sox as they continue to add to their starting pitching. They traded for former Chicago White Sox Garrett Crochet earlier in the offseason.
The Red Sox made improving their pitching one of their top priorities after finishing with the 17th ranked unit with a 4.04 ERA.
No doubt they will be hoping to get the Buehler that was lights out for the Dodgers in the NLCS and World Series, and not the one who struggles in the regular season and the NLDS.
The regular season was one to forget for the 30-year-old, who was returning from his second Tommy John surgery, as he finished with a 1-6 record and a 5.38 ERA per 16 starts. He also posted the lowest strike outs per inning – 7.6 – of his career.
Those struggles carried over to his first postseason start when Buehler allowed six runs in five innings in a loss to the Padres
Buehler turned things around after that
The loss to the Padres seemed to turn things around for Buehler, who turned into one of the Dodgers’ most-trusted arms the rest of the playoffs.
He pitched four scoreless innings in Game 3 of the NLCS against the New York Mets, shut out the Yankees over five innings of Game 3 of the World Series and recorded the title-winning save in Game 5.
All in all he finished with just five hits in 10 innings, all while striking out 13 batters.
Given the deal is for one year, it appears Buehler is betting on himself to bounce back before hitting free agency again next offseason. Time will tell whether the gamble pays off given he will now be pitching in the AL East and go up against the Yankees, Blue Jays, Orioles and Rays.
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