Oct 30, 2024; New York, New York, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler (21) pitches during the ninth inning against the New York Yankees in game four of the 2024 MLB World Series at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images
The Boston Red Sox made at least two high-value moves this offseason.
Boston's starting rotation surprised people in 2025 and now it's going to be even better. The Red Sox were aggressive on the pitching front and went out and landed Garrett Crochet and Walker Buehler after missing out in the Juan Soto sweepstakes.
Both are All-Star caliber hurlers and should be able to help the Red Sox take another step forward and hopefully get back to the postseason. Buehler specifically is going to be someone that's interesting to watch throughout the season.
When he has been healthy throughout his career, he has been one of the most dominant pitchers in baseball at times. He's just 30 years old and seems to be fully healthy right now. After logging an eye-popping 2.47 ERA in a league-leading 33 starts in 2021, he has made just 28 regular season starts since.
Buehler made 12 starts in 2022, missed the entire 2023 season, and made 16 starts in 2024. He started to look more like his old self in the playoffs and now that's he's another year removed from injury, there's a lot of hope swirling around him.
Spring Training is upon us with pitchers and catchers starting to report across the league, including Boston. The Red Sox's pitchers and catchers were officially scheduled to report to camp on Wednesday and some spoke to the media.
Buehler is someone who did and revealed that his goal for the season is to pitch between 180 and 200 innings for Boston, as shared in a clip from NESN.
"I've gone 200 (innings pitched) before," Buehler said. "I think that there is a lot of pride in that for me. Listen, I'm 30, I'm not 38, that's still on the table. As long as I perform, I don't see why I can't throw 180, 200 innings."
That's a great goal to have and hopefully he can reach it.