Alex Cora Confirms Red Sox Roster Shake-Up as Craig Breslow Finalizes $21M Arm’s Move Amid Yankees Series

Walker Buehler had it coming. Didn’t he? In his 22 starts this season, the eight-year MLB veteran has just 82 strikeouts in 110 innings. ERA as high as 5.40, Buehler’s strikeout rate of 6.7 per nine innings is his career lowest. And when the Boston Red Sox were also going through a rough patch, skipper Alex Cora had to make the hard decision.

Buehler was already scheduled to start against the Baltimore Orioles on Monday before the decision was made to send him to the bullpen. Skipper confirmed the move after talking to Chief Baseball Officer Craig Breslow right before the Yankees series on Friday.

“I talked to him last night. [Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow] did, too,” Cora said, via MassLive. “This is his new role. We’ll figure out how it goes — maybe one inning, multiple innings, whatever it is. We don’t know yet. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Walker Buehler’s turbulent 2025 season is the reason behind this move. After a shoulder inflammation that derailed his season when he had a decent 4-1 record, he was never the same. Apart from his poor starts, Buehler’s other concerning issue was allowing too many walks. In his last two innings, the 31-year-old allowed 8 batters, which brings his season walks to a career high of 54. Add the 21 homers that averaged 1.7 per nine innings, and the list just goes on for the reasons behind his demotion.

For the front office, this move was more of a reset than a demotion. The $21M arm himself acknowledged the decision. “The organization and to a lesser extent myself think it’s probably the right thing for our group and gives me an opportunity to reset in some way,” Buehler said.

But with Buehler out of the rotation, who will now be the fifth starter?

Who will fill the void?

In the match against the Yankees, Brayan Bello took Buehler’s place. He has a 9-6 record with a 3.07 ERA and 102 strikeouts in the 135 innings he pitched.

But in the long run, and 34 games still left in the season, the Sox can include pitchers like Richard Fitts, a right-hander acquired from the Yankees. In his 10 starts for Boston this year, Fitts has posted a 4.83 ERA.  Another option can be high-ceiling lefty Kyle Harrison. His recent Triple-A appearance with a 2.22 ERA over his last seven starts was good enough.

And most importantly, this wasn’t Buehler’s first time pitching in relief. He already made eight appearances out of the bullpen with the Dodgers in 2017, where he mainly struggled with a 7.71 ERA in that limited role.

This move will eventually help the Red Sox bullpen, which is already heavily taxed with injuries like Justin Slaten (shoulder), Josh Winckowski (elbow), and Liam Hendriks (hip) all injured. This shift will give the manager some flexibility in the late-season push.