In midst of playoff push, Red Sox move Walker Buehler to bullpen

NEW YORK — The Red Sox are moving Walker Buehler to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora announced Friday afternoon.

Cora and chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to Buehler, who was in line to start Monday’s series opener in Baltimore, Thursday night. The manager didn’t announce a replacement starter or candidates to take the ball Monday.

“Professional,” Cora said of the difficult conversation with Buehler. “He’s been very frustrated with the way he has pitched.”

The right-hander, 30, pitched to a 5.40 ERA over 22 starts this season. His last start was at Fenway on Aug. 19; he allowed two earned runs on four hits, walked four and struck out four in four innings against the Orioles.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” said Buehler as he sat in the visitors’ dugout moments after his manager’s announcement. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been in a situation like that, but at the end of the day, the organization, and to a lesser extent myself, think it’s probably the right thing for our group and gives me an opportunity to kind of reset in some way… In terms of this year’s team, I think it’s the right thing to do. I think for me, it’s a situation I’ve tried to avoid my whole life, but the way this season and last season have gone for me, I think (it’s) definitely understandable, and something that I’m going to try and embrace for the next couple months.”

“I mean, to be frank, if I wasn’t so (expletive) miserable trying to get people out every five days, I don’t think I would react positively at all to this,” Buehler added, “and so kind of a good sign of where I’m at mentally that I’m trying to find an opportunity or kind of a bright spot in this for myself and for our team. I’m not a guy that is ever going to stop trying to help us win in any way. That’s just not how I am. So hopefully I can find a way to kind of scratch out a place on our team.”

The righty, 30, debuted in the ‘17 Dodgers bullpen, making eight regular-season appearances. Since the start of the subsequent season, he started all but one of his 145 games.

“I really don’t think I had a bad year until last year… ’22 I struggled a little bit, but everything else was kind of smooth,” he said, “and so you can get a little complacent in that, in that ‘every time I walk out there I’m gonna be good because I was for my first 100 starts in the big leagues,’ or whatever it was. So yeah, a little bit of back-to-the-drawing-board and try and get my body in a better place for next year.”

Throughout the ongoing campaign, Buehler’s first outside the Dodgers organization and first full season since his ’22 Tommy John (he didn’t return to the majors until May ’24), he’s been open about his struggles to find consistency. That was true Friday, as he discussed the transition he’s about to make.

“There’s some stuff about this season that I’m really proud of, obviously I had a good game against Philly, good game against San Diego, two really good teams, and I think that’ll be in the back of mind that it’s in there and that I can be a successful starting pitcher, but right now I’m just not,” Buehler said.

There was also a bittersweet irony in the move happening at Yankee Stadium. Less than 10 months ago, it was the site of a relief appearance that culminated in one of the greatest moments of Buehler’s career. Perhaps shorter outings will allow him to find his way again.

“The best bullet of my season last year was in the last game of the season, so there is kind of some hope for that,” the righty said, referring to the deciding Game 5 of the ‘24 World Series, which he closed out with a 1-2-3 ninth to clinch another Dodgers championship. “Not having quite that workload, hopefully the arm bounces back a little bit better and puts me in a position to kind of elevate the stuff a little bit. … I think you have to have confidence in this game, and if I can find that in one-inning bursts, I think that’s a great thing for everyone involved.”

He had a vote of confidence from his manager.

“We — I still believe in him. I mean, he’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish,” Cora said. “Hopefully reset, go out there, pound the strike zone, simplify the attack and help us win ball games.”

However, when asked if working on his craft in a relief role might help him return to the rotation, Buehler said he wasn’t sure. The path forward, both this season and beyond, is unclear. All he can do is focus on the present, and the collective goal of making the first Red Sox playoff run since ’21.

“To be honest with you, I think this is some sort of opportunity, and to kind of look at it that way, and ‘Oh well, we’ll fix it all in the offseason,’ I don’t think is the way I kind of operate,” he explained, “and I’ve been on a lot of really good teams and played to the end of this thing, and thinking about next year doesn’t really help you do that.”

“I don’t think that’s going to help my starting career,” Buehler added, “but at the end of the day, it’s going to help our team.”

Extra innings

Wilyer Abreu (calf) took batting practice on the field and Rob Refsnyder (oblique) did running drills in the outfield Friday afternoon … The Mets agreed to a minor league deal with catcher Ali Sánchez, who elected free agency after being designated for assignment and outrighted by the Red Sox earlier this week. … The Rays recalled former Red Sox minor league righty swingman Brian Van Belle, setting him up for his long-awaited MLB debut. Van Belle, who turns 29 on Sept. 3, spent two days with the Red Sox big league club earlier this season but didn’t pitch.