Red Sox's Alex Cora Assesses Walker Buehler After Harsh Bullpen Move

Walker Buehler the relief pitcher is officially in effect.

On Sunday, Buehler pitched out of the bullpen in the Boston Red Sox's 7-2 loss to the New York Yankees. For a moment, it looked as though he might help to author a comeback from a 5-0 deficit, but after the offense stalled out, the righty allowed a back-breaking two-run home run to Jazz Chisholm Jr. in the top of the eighth inning.

It's been a brutally disappointing season for Buehler, the former two-time All-Star and World Series hero for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He'll make his $21 million from the Red Sox win or lose, but time is running out for him to have any sort of positive impact on the season.

Alex Cora's comments after Walker Buehler's relief appearance

Buehler had experience pitching out of the bullpen in Yankee Stadium -- to close out Game 5 of the World Series last fall. The circumstances could have hardly been more different this time around, but the Red Sox wanted to find Buehler a soft landing spot to work on his transition.

Though he gave up the home run, his manager, Alex Cora wasn't feeling in the mood to bash him for his performance on Sunday night.

“The most important thing with him is how he’s going to bounce back,” Cora said, per Jen McCaffrey of The Athletic. “This is a first for him, and we have to be patient in the beginning. I don’t want to say ease his way into the role, but we have to be smart, because we want to keep him healthy.”

Buehler, on the other hand, was reportedly frustrated and declined to speak to the press.

In 24 starts, Buehler had a 5.40 ERA and set a new career-high in walks (54) in only 110 innings. A change was on the table for weeks, but the Red Sox finally made the move after he couldn't get out of the fifth inning in his most recent start on Tuesday.

As bad as Buehler has been for most of this season, the Red Sox know they will want to give him the ball at some point in October, because that's the reputation he's built for himself throughout his career. The question from here on out is how they can get him prepped to succeed in whatever role they choose for him.