Is Kristian Campbell the early ROY favorite?
Sometimes a baseball team needs a reminder.
For the Red Sox, they got a few in their 4-3, 10-inning win over the Blue Jays Thursday.
There was the revelation that putting the ball in play is a valuable thing. Although the Sox did land with double-digit strikeouts for a third-straight game, it was Trevor Story who figured things out when it counted the most. The shortstop got just enough of a Nick Sandlin curveball with the bases loaded to plate the game-winning run.
"Just given the situation, funky pitcher up on the mound, I was just trying to find a way to get it done," said Story, whose walk-off hit was his first in almost four years. "I felt like I didn't the last couple nights with runners on. Just a grinder of an at-bat. Just trying to find a way to put it in play. So, yeah, one of the best for sure."
There was the reminder that sometimes you just have to believing better times area ahead, with Sox having gone hitless in 20 straight plate appearances until Alex Bregman's RBI single in the sixth inning.
And then there is the recollection of how important a lockdown performance from a relied-upon starting pitcher can be. That's where Walker Buehler game in.
In his third start with the Red Sox, Buehler gave off "enough is enough" kind of vibes in giving up one run in 6 1/3 innings. It would be his longest start since he went seven innings on May 8, 2022 against the Cubs.
“I think largely pre-surgery and non-playoffs — regular-season games — I think this is as good as I felt," said Buehler, whose previous two outings had seen him allow nine runs in 9 1/3 innings, allowing opponents a .350 batting average.
“We put in a ton of work this week with everyone in the building about what we’re seeing, what we’re feeling and it paid off this week, and now it’s kind of rinse and repeat and hope it kind of stays in there. ... I just felt more violent than I have in a long time. That’s how I play when I’m good."
This was how the Red Sox envisioned life with Buehler slotting in behind Garrett Crochet and Tanner Houck.
Through the first 14 games, the Red Sox carry an identical record through the same stretch of games to begin last season (7-7). The difference between the two starts, however, has been the starting pitchers' production.
In the first 14 games last year, the biggest storyline for the Sox was a starting rotation that led all teams with a .593 OPS against and remarkable 1.82 ERA. This year? It's been OK. The group's OPS against is .793 (23rd) and its collective ERA stands in the pack at 4.01.
The emergence of this version of Buehler - along with the continued All-Star-level production of last year's two All-Stars (Crochet and Houck) - will go a long way to shifting this team back to that narrative from last April.
Buehler can be that good. it was the reminder he offered Thursday.
"This week was a big one for me, just in terms of workload because I’m trying to figure it out and I’m kind of tired of sucking," Buehler said. "I kind of pushed my chips a little bit more on the table this week than I typically have."