BOSTON — It had been nine months since Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo, stretched his arms on the Yankee Stadium mound, and was dogpiled after recording the final outs of last year’s World Series.
But on Friday afternoon, ahead of Buehler’s first reunion with the Dodgers since departing for the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, the memory remained vividly fresh — for him, his former teammates and coaches, and even a traveling contingent of Dodgers fans in town for this weekend’s series at Fenway Park.
As Buehler chatted with members of his old organization hours before Friday’s series opener, Dodger fans taking a pregame tour of the stadium spotted him on the diamond. Within moments, an otherwise empty ballpark was echoing with cheers and applause, the fans shouting Buehler’s name as he acknowledged them with a wave of his hand.
“That was really cool,” Buehler said later, the moment reminding him of a conversation he had with Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser (a World Series hero of a different generation who became a mentor of Buehler’s during his time with the team).
“Talking to Orel about some of that stuff that he’s gone through and the way people react to him, I think it’s obviously two different situations,” he added. “But for the fans walking around to yell at me, I kind of imagine in L.A. it’ll be like that for a while, I hope.”
Indeed, if there was any doubt about how Buehler’s Dodgers tenure was destined to be remembered, his role in last year’s World Series enshrined it in legendary status.
No, the right-hander didn’t quite reach the Cy Young-winning expectations many had when he first came up as a highly touted prospect with a big fastball and fiery mound presence. For as dominant as he was from 2018-2021, when he went 39-13 with a 2.82 earned-run average and two All-Star selections, the end of his seven-year stint was derailed by a 2022 Tommy John surgery (the second of his career) and a disappointing regular-season performance upon his return in 2024 (when he was 1-6 in the regular season with a 5.38 ERA).
Buehler’s best Dodger moments, though, always came in the postseason: From his division-clinching gem in Game 163 as a rookie in 2018, to his 1.80 ERA in five starts during the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series run, to when he took the ball on short rest twice in a failed title defense in 2021, to his 10 consecutive scoreless innings in the final two rounds of last year’s postseason most of all; an unexpected star turn following his post-Tommy John struggles throughout the summer.
“That moment means a lot to all of us, that we were a part of it with the city and the fans that came out every day for us there,” he said, while talking to reporters in the Red Sox’s home dugout. “I think it would have been hard to leave that for anywhere — except for here.”
While Buehler expressed interest in remaining with the Dodgers ahead of his free agency last winter, his eventual departure became clear in the first week of the offseason.
The team didn’t extend him a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer — which ended up being the same amount he signed for with the Red Sox. The Dodgers instead went after Blake Snell with a $182-million contract, and won the January sweepstakes for Japanese phenom Roki Sasaki.
“It was an interesting situation. I think there’s obviously two sides to that situation,” Buehler said when reflecting back on his free agency. “We had conversations about it, we talked through it. And they went and signed guys that they wanted to sign. And I signed with a place that I wanted to play. It kind of is what it is.”
In hindsight, it was an outcome neither side seems to regret.
In Buehler’s absence, the Dodgers have managed to work around first-half injuries to several key starters, and are on track to have a potential postseason rotation featuring Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow, Shohei Ohtani and Snell (who could return from a shoulder injury after one last minor league rehab start with triple-A Oklahoma City on Saturday).
Meanwhile, Buehler said he has enjoyed playing for the Red Sox, even though he has regressed with a woeful 5.72 ERA (sixth-worst in the majors among 107 pitchers with at least 80 innings).
“It’s been a really fun year, outside of some of the playing stuff for me,” he said. “But my family and me, we’re loving it here and have felt really very welcomed here, as well, just like we were in L.A.”
Buehler has been better lately, giving up just three earned runs in his last 18 innings to help the Red Sox maintain the final wild-card spot in the American League.
His next start, fittingly, will come in Sunday’s series-finale against the Dodgers.
“It’ll be interesting,” Buehler said with a laugh. “Obviously, I was one of the last of the wave coming up there. So I’ve kind of got little bits and pieces of it playing against Joc [Pederson] and [Cody Bellinger] and Corey [Seager]. So it’ll be nine of those for me, I guess.”
Buehler wished he could have squared off against Clayton Kershaw; something he said he and the future Hall of Fame left-hander (who will instead pitch Saturday’s game) joked about while meeting up on Thursday’s off day.
Still, Buehler added, “I think you just try to keep it as normal as you can. Obviously it’ll be a little awkward or funny or whatever. But I don’t know. At the end of the day, we’re all playing a sport for a paycheck. The goal is go and to get one over on them. I don’t think the preparation against them is really different.”
“I was very fortunate to be drafted and developed and get to spend so much time there,” Buehler said. “Should credit a lot of good success that I’ve had to them, and how they handled and treated me. Nothing but good things to say there.”
As for if his ring — a diamond-studded reminder of what, for now at least, remains the lasting image of his Dodgers career — gave him any closure, Buehler smirked.
“I think you already have it,” he said. “But I think everyone kind of knows I’m on a one-year contract, so you never know what’s going to happen down the road.”
Betts absent for Friday
The Dodgers were without shortstop Mookie Betts, who was home in Nashville with his family attending to a personal matter. Roberts said Betts was expected to rejoin the club on Saturday, but was unsure if he’d be back in the starting lineup for that day’s game.
