Red Sox's Walker Buehler Placed on 15-Day IL with Shoulder Injury

The Boston Red Sox placed starting pitcher Walker Buehler on the 15-day injured list with inflammation in his pitching shoulder, manager Alex Cora told reporters on Friday.

"Miss two starts and hopefully be back as soon as the days are over," he said.

"We're working on a few things regarding Walker. We'll see where we're at over the weekend," Cora added. "He hasn't bounced back the way we wanted, so we have to wait."

Buehler, 30, signed a one-year, $21 million deal with the Red Sox this offseason. In six starts he's 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 28 strikeouts in 33.2 innings.

He was originally scheduled to start on Friday before being placed on the IL. Brayan Bello (2-0, 3.27 ERA) took his place.

Injuries have been a recurring theme in Buehler's career. He's undergone Tommy John surgery twice, with one of them costing him the entire 2022 season. He returned in May of last year for the Los Angeles Dodgers, making 16 starts, though he finished with a rough 5.38 ERA and 1.55 WHIP.

Starting pitching has been a bit of an issue for the Red Sox this season, outside of a strong campaign from Garrett Crochet to this point. Boston has already given nine different pitchers a start and had finally appeared to be back to full strength, with Lucas Giolito returning this week, only for Buehler to head to the IL.

In his absence, Sean Newcomb—who was moved back to the bullpen upon Giolito's return—could be reinserted into the starting rotation for the next two weeks.