The fall of the Dodgers' two-time All-Star is the Red Sox's perfect reclamation project

Sometimes a change of scenery is enough to bring about a career change.

Major League Baseball is tough, and that goes for both rookies and 15-year veterans. Formerly successful players can get stuck in terrible crises, and the only way to overcome this crisis is to move to a completely different city and work with new teammates and coaches.

The Boston Red Sox have an opportunity to help a veteran free agent regain his All-Star form. And that veteran just so happens to start the next World Series game for the team that is just two wins away from immortality.

Two-time All-Star Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers had a brutal 2024 season after returning from Tommy John surgery, but he continued to show glimpses of his former self in the postseason. Bleacher Report's Zachary D. Rymer named Buehler one of the impending free agents who “could become superstars” on new teams in 2025.

“It's not just the 5.38 ERA that Buehler posted this season that suggests he hasn't been the same since his second Tommy John surgery in 2022,” Rymer said.

“While he will be a recuperation project either way, it would be fascinating to see if a team other than the Dodgers could get Buehler to throw more sinkers and cutters. This isn't a particularly common approach, but it certainly works for Corbin Burnes.”

If “throwing fewer four-seam fastballs” sounds like a familiar strategy, it’s because that was the hallmark of the Red Sox pitching philosophy in the first year of Andrew Bailey’s tenure as pitching coach. The Red Sox starters had far more success than expected, especially early in the season, relying on off-speeds more than any other pitcher.

At 30 years old, Buehler may never again be able to hit the high 90s and blow hitters away like he did in his mid-20s. But he also has a dirty sweeper and a solid cutter and sinker. The Red Sox could secure a solid middle rotation starter on a cheap deal if Buehler finds his form, and possibly more.

More MLB: According to Insider, the Red Sox may no longer be in the running for the $105 million Cy Young winner