Who has Mayor Wu requested a meeting with today?
When Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran uttered a homophobic slur to an innocent tennis enthusiast last August, many were appalled. None more, it seemed, than Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. Wu, it was reported, requested a meeting with Duran to discuss the incident. Of course, this turned out to be completely false. But a prominent Red Sox beat reporter incorrectly reporting that the Mayor of Boston requested a disciplinary meeting with a Red Sox player is self-evidently hilarious. And, today, the phrase “Mayor Wu has requested a meeting with X” lives on in Red Sox online lore.
Last summer’s iconic misreport has inspired a new weekly piece here on Over The Monster.
Introducing: The Mayor’s Office. Each week, Jake Wallinger will send one person from Red Sox Nation to Mayor Wu’s office for discipline, public shaming, and, hopefully, penance, as we all strive to build a stronger baseball team and city. To kick off the series, we start with arguably the most disappointing player on the 2025 Red Sox, Walker Buehler.
Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
When Walker Buehler was signed by the Red Sox last winter to a 1 year/$21.05 million deal, the hope was that he could slot in after Garret Crochet and Tanner Houck to be the Red Sox #3 starter. While his 2021 season, where he pitched to the tune of a 5.6 fWAR, an All-Star appearance, and a 4th-place NL Cy Young finish, was 3 years and 1 Tommy John surgery ago, there was some reason for optimism. Buehler had just finished off a World Series-winning postseason run where he showed flashes of his old self. In 15 innings he struck out 13 batters to go along with a 3.50 FIP.
Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images
Unfortunately, that optimism appears to have been misplaced. Through 14 starts and 67 innings for our 2025 Boston Red Sox, Buehler has a disastrous 6.45 ERA, a cataclysmic 6.03 FIP, and a nauseating 1.84 strikeout-to-walk ratio. In almost every statistic, Buehler is having a career-worst year.
Now, it’s obvious to anyone with a pulse that this signing has been a catastrophe. After poring over decades of data, picking apart loads of charts, graphs, and whatever else, and comparing Buehler to many other pitchers who have his sort of career trajectory, I have come to an answer for the question everyone is asking: Is there any hope for a bounce-back for Walker?
No.
At least, not this year.
As we sit here in early July 2025, it has now been almost 4 (four) full years since Walker Buehler has been an above-average major league pitcher. If he is ever going to positively contribute to a Major League roster again, it would appear like a full-blown reinvention of himself would have to be in the cards. That is not something that this year’s Boston Red Sox can afford to wait around for.
Perhaps the Red Sox will try him in the bullpen before they completely cut bait, see if that fastball can gain back a few ticks. Probably not. It’s a shame the experiment went this way, as during his best days in Los Angeles, Walker Buehler was dynamite to watch. Unfortunately for all, it doesn’t seem like this story has a happy ending.
Mr. Buehler, Mayor Wu will see you now.
Photo by Matt Stone/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty Images