Phillies are beneficiary of terrible Red Sox mistake after acquiring postseason hero 

On Aug. 29, the Boston Red Sox officially gave up on their one-year, $21.05M marquee offseason signing. Sporting a 5.45 ERA in 23 games (22 starts), Walker Buehler was promptly DFA’d to make room for rookie hurler Payton Tolle. 

The cause for Buehler's underperformance might have been a shoulder injury that sidelined him in May, though it had been since 2021 when he last performed well. This gave Red Sox management reason enough to be wary. As it turns out, releasing Buehler may have been a massive mistake.

Shortly after his release, Buehler was acquired by the Philadelphia Phillies. In three games with the Phillies (two starts), it seems he has regained his vintage form. 

After throwing five shutout innings against the Miami Marlins on Thursday, Buehler has totaled just one earned run in 13.2 innings with Philadelphia, quickly becoming a linchpin in the Philadelphia rotation after the loss of Zack Wheeler, who underwent thoracic outlet decompression surgery on Sept. 23.

No one could blame the Red Sox for losing patience; however, any regret on releasing Buehler is only exacerbated by the price they are paying for him. The Phillies are covering only $760K of Buehler’s contract while Boston is on the hook for the rest. Still, if history is any indication of what lies ahead, this regret may burn even worse in the playoffs.

Walker Buehler’s record of postseason excellence works to the Philadelphia Phillies' advantage

As a member of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Buehler has been to the postseason a total of five times, posting an ERA of 3.04 in 94.2 innings. Aside from a few sub-optimal starts, he has been extremely effective, garnering a 10-3 record with 114 strikeouts.

Buehler’s World Series record is nothing short of awe-inspiring, posting a minute 0.47 ERA and accruing two wins and no losses in 19 innings of work. In his only postseason relief appearance, he closed out the final game of the 2024 World Series against the New York Yankees, collecting the only save of his career. He has made the trip to the fall classic three times, winning two championships with the Dodgers.

Thus far, picking up Buehler for a fraction of his contract has worked out very well for the Phillies, though it’s only a sample size. If he can thrive in the postseason as he has done before, he could propel the Phillies to their first championship since 2008.