Many things can change within a few hours, and that's what happened on Friday. The Boston Red Sox have released struggling starting pitcher Walker Buehler and will be eating up the remaining of his $21 million. For the pitchers who want a call-up from the minors, Buehler's release is a golden opportunity for them, especially for Kyle Harrison.
Harrison, who may have been believed to be dead in the water after the Rafael Devers trade, is one of the biggest arms coming out of that WooSox rotation right now.
Red Sox's Kyle Harrison is Biggest Winner of Walker Buehler Release
After the Payton Tolle call-up this week, and the playoff roster deadline approaching fast, the Red Sox need another arm. Harrison is a key piece that could go well either in long relief or as a backend starter for the rest of the season, and this all depends on Dustin May's performance this Saturday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
But with that being said, Harrison is the most ready pitcher alongside Tolle. He's added a new cutter and a new grip on his changeup, which has been working wonders in Triple-A.
The former San Francisco Giant had an amazing August, striking out 24 batters in just five starts (2.35 ERA in 36 1/3 innings). The problem was his command, and that's been fixed for a while, throwing a 26.3 K% rate. For perspective, anything around 24% is excellent for a pitcher. He has a walking issue still, at a 10% rate, but that can be fixed within time.
Red Sox pitching coach Andrew Bailey, who coached in the Bay, loved Harrison when the Giants picked the latter in the 2020 MLB draft. Now that both hopefully will be reunited in Boston, Harrison can go under the knife in that Red Sox pitching lab and develop into a good starter for them with some help from Bailey.
Harrison has really come into his own, and the fans love him a lot, with some wanting him in the Majors over Tolle. Now that Buehler is gone, Harrison will get his chance... and when he does? It'll be a party in Beantown.