BOSTON — Red Sox righty Walker Buehler is on track to rejoin the starting rotation Tuesday against the Mets.
The 30-year-old righty has been on the 15-day injured list since May 2 (retroactive to April 29) with right shoulder bursitis. He threw three innings (62 pitches) in a live batting practice at Fenway Park on Thursday.
Buehler said he should be able to throw approximately 85-90 pitches Tuesday.
He said he never thought his injury was anything serious and it might not have required an IL stint if it happened late in the season.
“I don’t think if it was late in the year that we would necessarily have done the exact same things,” Buehler said here Saturday at Fenway Park. “But just too early in the year to kind of try and push it.”
Buehler is 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA (33 ⅔ innings, 16 starts), 1.22 WHIP, 29 strikeouts, nine walks and a .252 batting average against in six starts.
He had two shaky starts to begin the season but he pitched well over his next four starts, posting a 2.59 ERA and holding opponents to a .207 batting average.
When manager Alex Cora was asked if Buehler is good for Tuesday, he replied, “At this point, yeah.”
Red Sox starters have combined for a 4.13 ERA, which ranks 11th in the major leagues.
Starters Tanner Houck (right flexor pronator strain) and Richard Fitts (right pectoral strain) also are on the IL.
Houck hit the injured list May 14. There’s no timetable yet for his return. He underwent an MRI on Thursday and has no structural damage.
Fitts, meanwhile, threw a 40-pitch live batting practice here Saturday. He might make a rehab start next week.
Buehler signed a one-year, $21.05 million contract with Boston in December. He returned last May to pitch for the Dodgers after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery in August 2022. His first Tommy John surgery was in 2015.
