Red Sox starting pitcher Walker Buehler was scratched from his start Sunday due to illness, according to WEEI’s Rob Bradford. Cooper Criswell will start the team’s final spring training against the Twins instead.
The illness does not appear to be serious, as Bradford added that Buehler is expected to pitch on the back fields at Boston’s spring training site Monday. Illness aside, Buehler had not intended to travel with the team to Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico, for their two-game regular season exhibition series against Los Sultanes de Monterrey this Monday and Tuesday.
Buehler’s addition to the Red Sox starting rotation marked one of the club’s biggest free agent signings of the 2024 offseason.
In Boston on a one-year deal, Buehlerâs out to prove heâs still one of the gameâs best pitchers. He memorably closed out the 2024 World Series for the Los Angeles Dodgers, striking out former Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo on three straight pitches to clinch the title against the New York Yankees, the second championship of the 30-year-old’s career.
Since Tommy John surgery in late 2022, the right-hander’s road back to success hasnât exactly been smooth. Through 16 starts last season, he compiled a 1â6 record with a 5.38 ERA and 64 strikeouts in 75.1 inningsâa clear step back from the ace he was before his injury.
Today’s scratch isn’t expected to interrupt Buehler’s first turn in the Red Sox rotation, which is slated for Saturday, March 29, in Arlington against the Texas Rangers.
âHopefully, I bring some value this year and get to play the rest of my career in Boston,â Buehler told reporters this spring.
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