The Boston Red Sox appear to be shortening the leash with one of their veterans.
MassLive’s Chris Cotillo issued an update regarding the club’s pitching rotation on Friday, as he’s hearing they are assessing potential rotation changes entering the final stretch of the regular season.
Walker Buehler, who will start Friday’s series-opening matchup with the San Diego Padres, appears to be on thin ice moving forward as other rotation hopefuls continue to emerge.
“Buehler could be odd man out without a turnaround soon,” Cotillo wrote.
Kyle Harrison — who headlined the package that was returned in the Rafael Devers trade with the San Francisco Giants — looks better with each passing start at Triple-A Worcester, putting together five scoreless innings in his most recent start. Cooper Criswell was surprisingly dominant starting on short notice against the Houston Astros on Aug. 1, with many believing he could continue to give quality innings in the rotation. Richard Fitts hasn’t exactly earned a spot in the rotation, but he’s been better than the veteran.
It’s almost a matter of time, at this point.
Buehler, 31, has been remarkably unsteady during his first season with the Red Sox, putting together a putrid 5.74 ERA in 94 total innings that span 19 starts. Boston needs better than that, and with a new project on its hands in Dustin May, could cut the cord on the experiment altogether.
The Red Sox and Padres are scheduled to take the field at 9:40 p.m. ET, and if you’re willing to stay up that late, you could see a turning point in the former’s focus. NESN will have full coverage beginning at 8:30 p.m. ET.
