Red Sox
Buehler, 31, started 22 games and pitched out of the bullpen once for Boston.
In a surprising move, the Red Sox let go of one of their pitchers ahead of Friday’s game against the Pirates.
The club announced that it released Walker Buehler to make room for Payton Tolle, who is set to make his MLB debut as Boston’s starting pitcher Friday.
Buehler, 31, started 22 games for the Red Sox this season. He was recently moved out of Boston’s starting rotation and into its bullpen due to his pitching struggles. Buehler pitched in relief on Aug. 24 versus the Yankees, his final appearance with the team.
The right-hander experienced more lows than highs during his time with the Red Sox. Buehler owns a 5.45 ERA and 1.56 WHIP through 112 ⅓ innings pitched this year.
Walks have been his biggest problem, allowing an average of 4.4 per nine innings (55 total). Buehler is also allowing 1.8 home runs per nine (22 total).
He and Boston agreed to a one-year, $21.05 million contract in December 2024, which included opportunities for lucrative bonuses. The deal featured a $25 million mutual option for 2026 with a $3 million buyout. Additionally, Buehler earned a $500,000 bonus each for reaching 20 and 22 starts. He would have earned another $500,000 each for reaching 24, 26, and 28 starts.
With one month of regular season games remaining, there’s a good chance Buehler will land with another team in need of pitching.
As for what it means for the Red Sox, it appears that the club is all in on letting Tolle replace Buehler on the active roster and in the rotation. Tolle, 22, ascended through Boston’s minor league system this season and impressed the organization enough to make this roster move as they vie for a playoff spot.
Coming off a four-game sweep of their division foe Baltimore Orioles, which put the club 3.5 games behind the top of the American League East and sole possession of the first A.L. wild card spot, the move indicates urgency within the organization.
Chief baseball officer Craig Breslow spoke to reporters about Tolle before Friday’s contest, citing the team’s belief that the southpaw will be a meaningful contributor through the rest of 2025.
“We brought up Payton with the expectation that he’s going to be able to contribute down the stretch for us,” Breslow said. “Exactly, what that looks like, I think is to be determined, but over the last four or five months, he’s really impressed at every level. He’s made significant strides in terms of his development and we have every reason to believe that he can be a very good Major League starting pitcher.”
It’s high praise for an arm that was pitching for High-A Greenville two months ago. But, given Tolle’s performance, it’s well-deserved praise.
The 2024 second-round draft pick (No. 50) has carved up hitters from High-A through Triple-A Worcester. Collectively, Tolle boasts a 3.04 ERA and 0.99 WHIP in his first professional season. He’s struck out a whopping 133 batters through 91 ⅔ innings across 18 starts (20 appearances). Batters are hitting a measly .203 against Tolle, who possesses a virtually unhittable fastball.
Tolle began the season in Greenville before being promoted to Double-A Portland on June 24. Not even two months later, on Aug. 6, he moved up to Triple-A.
A few weeks later, Tolle finds himself at Fenway Park to face off against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Paul Skenes, a fellow young (23 years old), tall (both stand at 6-foot-6), overpowering lefty.
In his Triple-A debut on Aug. 10, Tolle was roughed up for five earned runs through five innings. He allowed seven hits, two of which were home runs.
However, in his last two games (Aug. 16 and Aug. 22), Tolle allowed just one earned run and four hits.
The rookie will hope his MLB debut line Friday looks cleaner than his Triple-A debut earlier this month and help Boston win five straight games.
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