Los Angeles Dodgers star Walker Buehler, who is in the final stages of his Tommy John surgery rehab, was supposed to be playing his last minor league game on Thursday before joining the big league rotation next week.
However, those plans can now change and depend on what manager Dave Roberts and the front office decide.
He conceded two runs over 2.2 innings on Thursday for Triple-A Oklahoma City.
He couldn’t make it out of the third frame and his night was over after 68 pitches.
What did Roberts say regarding the next step for Buehler?
That he needed to pitch more, basically.
“Goal had been 80-85 pitches, Dave Roberts said this week. We’ll see what this means for him as an option the next turn through the rotation — Roberts had said it was contingent on how this one went,” Dodgers insider Fabian Ardaya tweeted.
Goal had been 80-85 pitches, Dave Roberts said this week. We’ll see what this means for him as an option the next turn through the rotation — Roberts had said it was contingent on how this one went. https://t.co/auhFaYKUfu
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) April 19, 2024
LA now has two options: have Buehler make another rehab start in which he can hit the desired workload, or have him start in MLB and “piggyback” another long reliever after him.
A decision should be coming in the next few days, but in any case, Buehler didn’t report any health issues and should be ready to make his long-awaited return soon enough.
He last pitched in MLB in 2022, when he posted a 4.02 ERA in 65 innings of work.
When healthy, he is one of the Dodgers’ top starters, as his 3.02 career ERA proves.
LA is close to getting another ace back to join Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and others in a brilliant rotation.
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