Walker Buehler is well aware that he will not get infinite chances to prove he deserves to remain in the Red Sox' starting rotation. He acknowledged as much after his latest rough outing Monday night in Anaheim against the Angels.
"I think you have to," said Buehler when asked about worries that his spot in the rotation might be in jeopardy. "At some point, there are 26 guys who will help this team hopefully make the playoffs. If you’re not one of them, I don’t think it matters what you have done in years past, to be honest."
Buehler will get at least one more start, though. Boston manager Alex Cora confirmed that during his weekly appearance on WEEI Afternoons Tuesday.
"Yeah, he is," Cora said when asked if Buehler is expected to make his next start.
It was a fair question. In seven starts since coming back from the injured list, Buehler has totaled an 8.59 ERA with an OPS against of .987. He has allowed five or more earned runs in four of his last five starts, including five in four innings Monday - a game in which he issued a season-high seven walks and also hit two batters.
With Tanner Houck on a rehab assignment and newly-acquired Kyle Harrison pushing in Triple-A, Buehler's spot in the rotation could be increasingly in jeopardy in the coming weeks. But for now, Cora believes the team and Buehler still have reason to believe he can turn things around before then.
“You take the good and the bad, right, and we'll make adjustments,” Cora said of Buehler. “Just watching the first inning, I really thought the second and third inning, stuff-wise, command-wise, was good. But at that point, they already did damage in the first. Good job by him giving us four, saving the bullpen. But we expect more, and he does too. That's the most important thing. I’ve been saying it all along: Stuff-wise, he's really good. You know, 95-96, and the movement. We have to command better, we have to be more precise, and we didn't do that yesterday.”