The Boston Red Sox signed Walker Buehler as one of their many pitching reinforcements this winter. He made his Red Sox debut against the Rangers on March 29 and his Fenway Park debut six days later, but neither went as well as Sox fans hoped.

Buehler surrendered four runs on seven hits, one a homer, with three strikeouts over 4.1 innings in his first outing at Globe Life Field. His first home game in a Red Sox uniform and the first-ever game he pitched at Fenway Park looked quite similar — Buehler gave up five runs on seven hits, including two home runs, in five innings.

The righty started hot against the Cardinals on April 4 when he generated three quick outs, including a strikeout of Willson Contreras, in the first frame. St. Louis got to Buehler soon after, though, when he let up a walk and two straight singles to allow the Cardinals on the board. His struggles continued the next inning when Nolan Arenado ripped a double, Alec Burleson collected the second of his three hits on the day, and Iván Herrera followed with his fourth homer of the season.

Luckily for Buehler, Boston had quite the day at the plate to keep him in the game. The Sox knocked five runs in the first inning and eventually won the game, 13-9, but the Cardinals slugged their way back into the race on multiple occasions.

The Red Sox signed Buehler as a World Series hero — he secured the final out of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2024 World Series win against the Yankees, and two of his three postseason starts were scoreless. He finished the playoffs with a 3.60 ERA over 15 innings, all six of his earned runs came in his NLDS appearance against the Padres.

But Buehler has looked more like his regular-season self since he joined the Red Sox. He posted a 5.38 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 28 walks in 75.1 innings with LA last year, and acknowledged that he’s only played his best in the postseason recently.

“It’s been so long since I’ve been, kind of, as dominant as I want to be or been the guy that I want to be. I’ve had it for two or three starts at a time throughout the past year and a half and especially in the playoffs, but you don’t make many playoff rosters with a seven or eight or nine ERA,” Buehler said.

Buehler was one of the most dominant young pitchers in the league during the early part of his seven-year tenure with the Dodgers. He clocked a 2.95 ERA over 629 innings from 2018-22 before undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. He missed the entire 2023 season and part of his 2024 slate was spent recovering. Two starts in a Red Sox uniform is a small sample size, but Buehler hasn’t consistently pitched like his pre-surgery self.

Buehler sounds determined to get back on the right track and hopes to deliver in the regular season as well as the playoffs. The righty told reporters after his outing against the Cardinals that he’s encouraged by some of his pitches and he may need just a few more adjustments to rebound with the Sox.

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