How Alex Cora Reacted To Walker Buehler’s Debut As Red Sox Reliever

A new role didn’t instantly spark better results for Walker Buehler.

Recently removed from the starting rotation, Buehler made his first appearance out of the Boston Red Sox bullpen on Sunday night. The 31-year-old allowed two hits, a walk and two runs over 2 1/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees.

After the game, per The Athletic’s Jen McCaffrey, Red Sox manager Alex Cora assessed Buehler’s initial outing as a reliever.

“The most important thing with him is how he’s going to bounce back,” Cora said. “This is a first for him, and we have to be patient in the beginning. I don’t want to say ease his way into the role, but we have to be smart, because we want to keep him healthy.”

Boston trailed 5-2 when Cora inserted Buehler into the game with two out in the bottom of the sixth. He retired José Caballero to strand two Yankees runners on base and navigated a scoreless seventh inning. However, Jazz Chisholm Jr. spoiled Buehler’s evening by hitting a two-run homer (his second of the night) over Yankee Stadium’s short porch in right field.

Buehler now has a 5.45 ERA and 1.56 WHIP in his first season with the Red Sox. The two-time All-Star has a career-low 16.5 percent strikeout rate and his highest walk rate (10.8%) when excluding the 9 1/3 innings he threw as a rookie in 2017.

A bullpen role isn’t entirely unprecedented for Buehler, who tossed a dominant ninth inning to record the final three outs of last year’s World Series. The Red Sox will hope he makes a similar impact in pursuit of his third championship this fall.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox are filling his rotation spot by having Brennan Bernardino begin Monday’s game against the Baltimore Orioles as an opener. Richard Fitts will likely follow in a bulk relief role.