An early game at Fenway didn’t faze Walker Buehler ahead of best Red Sox start
"Obviously an important day for the city, and one that we need to win — and we're supposed to win on this day."
Walker Buehler is no stranger to 11 a.m. start times in baseball.
Well, at least during his time in the minor leagues.
“2017 in Double-A against [Tigers starter] Jack Flaherty,” Buehler said when asked of the last morning game he’s been a part of — a matchup between the Tulsa Drillers and Springfield Cardinals. “We had a SpongeBob SquarePants Day that we pitched against each other in. I was thinking about that earlier, so I think that’s it.”
Monday’s game at Fenway Park had a little more pomp behind its festivities — and fewer nautical motifs.
The Red Sox’s annual Patriots Day game stands as a storied tradition in Boston, albeit one that does require a bit of adjustment for new additions to Boston’s roster.
And given Buehler’s reputation as a vigilant perfectionist with a thorough pre-game routine, the 30-year-old righty didn’t want to leave anything to chance when it came to the road closures and other delays around Fenway Park.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s 7 (p.m.) or 11 o’clock,” Alex Cora said of Buehler on Monday morning. “He’s on-point. It’s not like it takes him a long time to get ready. But there’s a lot of moving parts throughout his process.”
As such, Buehler started his prep work ahead of Monday’s start against the White Sox on Sunday night, and stayed at a hotel across the street from the ballpark that night in order to curtail his entire commute.
He arrived at Fenway around 7:30 a.m. on Monday — the earliest he’s ever arrived at a game in his big-league career.
It was an unorthodox routine for Buehler on a day that stands as an outlier against the rest of the Red Sox’s 162-game schedule.
But Boston’s free-agent pickup didn’t look ill-prepared (or drowsy) in his first Patriots Day start for the Red Sox.
Buehler was a force on the mound Monday, allowing just one run over seven innings of work en route to the Red Sox’s 4-2 win over Chicago. The righty relinquished just four hits over his outing to go along with three walks and nine strikeouts.
“Obviously an important day for the city, and one that we need to win — and we’re supposed to win on this day and in this place,” Buehler said. “So good day to have a good [start].”
After suffering several injury setbacks over his final seasons with the Dodgers, Monday stood as another encouraging step forward for Buehler.
As noted by MLB.com’s Ian Browne, Monday was the first time that Buehler has pitched seven or more innings in a regular-season start since May 8, 2022.
“I mean, from my end, I’ve always been a fan,” Cora said of Buehler, who first stormed onto the scene as a promising starter with the Dodgers. “I learned the hard way in [2018], but just talking to him, it’s not only pitching, it’s the overall thing.
“Just talking to him. Alex [Bregman], Justin Wilson, these guys, they’re proven winners. When they come to the ballpark, they expect clean games, play well and be consistent. And he’s been solid for us. He’s getting there. He’s not there yet, but like I said, in spring training, on a bad day, he’ll go five [innings], give us a chance to win. Today was solid. He gave us seven.”
Monday’s matchup against Chicago got off to a bit of a rocky start, as the White Sox struck first in the opening frame off of two singles and a groundout. But after that, Buehler settled into a groove — holding Chicago to just two more hits and five total baserunners over his final six innings of work.
“I think at times, last year, I kind of had it for a second and lost it,” Buehler said of settling in. “And it’s nice to sustain it at least a little bit. My last [start] was kind of a struggle, but the results looked okay. And today, I think it was more what that kind of middle ground feeling start should be like for me.”
After a rocky start to his Red Sox tenure (nine runs allowed in his first 9.1 innings with Boston), Buehler has now posted a 1.96 ERA in his last three starts — allowing two runs or fewer in each of those outings.
Even if both age and multiple procedures on his elbow might have sapped Buehler from some of the blistering heat he once delivered on the mound, the veteran believes he has the arsenal of pitches at his disposal to continually keep batters off balance.
“I mean, I’d love to throw 100 again. But you have a few surgeries, and you turn 30 — things change a little bit,” Buehler said. “But I think we’re always hunting for a little bit better, a little bit more, a little bit this, a a little bit of that.
“But today was a good example for me in terms of working with whatever we had going and staying within that realm and not be hunting for 95-96 [mph], and kind of pitch a little more.”
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