Walker Buehler is making his debut for Philadelphia Phillies on Friday when they open a three -game interligue series against the Kansas City Royals visiting.
Buehler posted a 7-7 file with an MPM of 5.45 in 23 appearances for the Boston Red Sox this season before the team passed from the right-handed veteran last month. He clung to Philadelphia and left Triple-A to prepare him at the end of Friday.
In this development, Buehler launched 78 throws – 47 strikes – in three rounds. He abandoned two points (one deserved) and five strokes with three balls on bullets and five stick withdrawals. Now he joins one of the hottest teams of baseball in time for a pennant race.
“Obviously, it didn’t work in Boston, and I’m super excited to be here,” said Buehler. “We had some conversations during the offseason about me who potentially come here and it has not finished as we all wanted, but it is a place where I have always had a lot of respect.”
The arrival of Buehler will give the phillies a rotation of six men, at least for the moment. The team can afford to give a little rest to its best in the section, while Philadelphia (87-60) enters this match with a file of 7-1 in its last eight games and, more importantly, a magic number of five to win the national league is.
The Phillies are also closer to the Milwaukee Brewers (89-58), which hold a two game lead for the series of the NL qualifiers.
Philadelphia comes out of a balance of four games from the New York Mets. Jesus Luzardo withdrew 22 consecutive strikers during the 6-4 Thursday victory, while Otto Kemp succeeded and rolled in three points for the Phillies.
“For me, it was more to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win and go for a scan,” said Luzardo, “which is obviously something we wanted. While we end the season, each victory counts.”
Kansas City (74-73) has lost four of the five and is now long-term to win an American league joker. The Royals lost three of the four against the Cleveland Guardians this week, including a disappointing setback of 3-2 Thursday.
Stephen Kolek abandoned a point in 6 2/3 rounds before John Schreiber gave the two -point circuit to CJ Kayfus in the eighth.
“It’s a punch,” said Royals’ first goal player Vinnie Pasquantino. “He took a good swing and he struck. Sucks. Plain and simple.”
Kansas City will aim to bounce back behind Michael Lorenzen (5-10, 4.63), who launched a boost for Philadelphia during one of his seven departures for the club in 2023. Now he will face the phillies, against whom he is 1-3 with an ERA of 4.96 in nine career meetings (a start).
More recently, Lorenzen granted four points in 5 1/3 innings in one defeat of 5-1 against the Twins of Minnesota last Sunday.
“Today, I put the team in a hole early,” said Lorenzen after abandoning the circuits in Byron Buxton and Kody Clemens. “In my last departure, I would have liked to have a spear. Today, there were about three. These circuits will hurt you.”
– field level media
