Walker Buehler has much-needed bounceback in Red Sox win over Blue Jays

It took an extra-inning defensive miscue by the Blue Jays for the Boston Red Sox to get back in the win column on Thursday. But regardless of the final result, the most important development of their 4-3 victory at Fenway Park was the performance of starter Walker Buehler.

Plagued by the longball and a lack of swings-and-misses in the early-going, Buehler on Thursday looked more like the kind of pitcher the Red Sox hoped they were getting when they signed him to a one-year deal for just over $21 million. Most notable was that he kept the ball in the park, allowing no home runs after giving up three in 9.1 innings over his first two starts. Buehler finished with just one earned run allowed on four hits and one walk in 6.1 innings, his longest outing since May 8, 2022.

Another key improvement for Buehler is in swings-and-misses on his two most-used pitches, the four-seam fastball and cutter. He improved his whiff rate from 18.75% last time out against the Cardinals, to 22.2% against the Jays. He got more movement on both pitches as well, as evidenced by an improved "induced vertical break" -- from 17 inches to 19 inches on the four-seamer, and 10 to 13 on the cutter (via Baseball Savant)

Toronto was much more aggressive than St. Louis chasing pitches outside the strike zone (40% oSwing% vs 26%). This helped Buehler rack up a season-best seven strikeouts, while logging 1.1 more innings on just six more pitches than his previous outings.

^{Walker Buehler}

Ask Buehler, and he won't rattle off a bunch of numbers. He explained that it was more about his mindset and overall approach, with an interesting word choice.

"I just felt more violent than I have in a long time, and that's how I play when I'm good, so I'm pretty pleased with it," Buehler told reporters after the game. "I'm kind of tired of sucking, so I kind of pushed my chips a little bit more in the table this week than I typically have. For that to pay off is a big win for me, personally.

"But also, we want to get on a flight in a good mood and today felt like a big game, as early as it is in the year."

Buehler is already throwing strikes and keeping the walks down, which bodes well for him going forward. But he needed to get more movement on his primary pitches to cut back on hard contact (or get no contact at all) when they hit the strike zone.

The Red Sox already can feel good about ace Garrett Crochet when he takes the mound. If Buehler can continue to put it together like he did on Thursday, he could become the reliable No. 2 starter they desperately need.