buehler

The Los Angeles Dodgers earned a comeback 9-2 win over the Atlanta Braves behind a seven-run ninth inning and bounce-back start by Walker Buehler.

The right-hander recorded his first quality start since May 31 after allowing two runs (one earned) on three hits with five strikeouts in six innings of work. He also walked a season-high five batters, but still managed to limit the damage.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was encouraged by Buehler’s performances and believes he is trending in the right direction, via Juan Toribio of MLB.com:

“It was huge,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “I believe in who he is. But you do have to get results as a player to build that confidence, that momentum. This was a big step. It really was. I talk about performing and results at this time of the season, and the results were very good.”

Buehler allowed both of his runs in the third inning and felt like he got stronger as the game went on:

“Two runs, I don’t feel super great about. But it felt kind of like we minimized it in some way,” Buehler said. “Start creating a little bit of momentum after that, and hopefully that momentum helped our team later in the game. I think it’s a big win, kind of however you want to look at it.”

Buehler gave up just one hit over his final three innings, which kept the Dodgers in the game long enough for them to complete the comeback.

The 30-year-old’s strong start couldn’t have come at a better time, especially with all of the negativity surrounding the Dodgers rotation.

Buehler has struggled for most of the year but figures to play an important role in the postseason. He is 1-5 with a 5.54 ERA, 5.89 FIP and 1.62 WHIP in 65 innings across 14 starts.

Walker Buehler ‘just trying to survive’ the season

Buehler, who returned to the Dodgers after missing the entire 2023 season while recovering from a second Tommy John surgery, has not been able to find consistent success and recently admitted he is just trying to get through the year.

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Walker Buehler was back on the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers with increased confidence after his last two outings where he believed things were trending in the right direction.

However, that added confidence may have been short-lived as the Chicago Cubs got to him early. Ian Happ opened the game with a single and Cody Bellinger blasted a two-run homer to put the Cubs up.

Isaac Paredes followed with a dobule and came home to score on a single from Michael Busch, who the Dodgers traded in the offseason, to give them a 3-0 lead in the first inning.

In addition, Busch homered in the fourth against Buehler, and after Bellinger and Paredes reached against him in the sixth, and that ended Buehler’s day as Anthony Banda entered to replace him before allowing the inherited runners to score.

Buehler finished his day going 5+ innings, allowing five runs on nine hits with one walk, four strikeouts and two home runs allowed.

After his outing, Buehler said he was frustrated by that first inning that put the Dodgers in position to lose, he said via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:

“I screwed us from the jump,” said Buehler, who has given up 26 runs in the first or second innings in his 13 starts this season. “Obviously three runs in the first kind of sucked the energy out of the building. It’s hard. The first inning has been a weird thing for me this year. That’s a lot to ask of the rest of our guys to dig me out of a hole every game.”

Buehler, who is returning from a second career Tommy John surgery, has not been able to find any consistent rhythm this season. He now owns a 5.95 ERA in 59 innings with a 1.64 WHIP, and his peripheral numbers are worse than that.

With the playoffs approaching and the Dodgers in need of pitching options for October, Buehler said he hasn’t focused on that at all. He is instead just trying to get through the season and figure out a way to perform for the team:

“No. At some point, given the way this season’s going, I’m kind of just trying to survive it at some point,” he said. “The past two or three have given me a little bit of confidence and feeling a little more like myself. But at some point, I’m just kind of waiting on that six on one (innings and runs), feel good, punch more than the innings I throw and things like that.

“At the end of the day I’ve got to perform and I’ve kind of said that for a long time. I’ve got to perform for myself, but more for our team. We’re trying to get to the end of a race here and whether I pitch in the playoffs or not, or whatever, we need to make the playoffs and be in a good spot and let the guys that have carried us all year carry us wherever we’re gonna go. At this point, I’m trying to go and us win the game when I start.”

The list of players to successfully come back from a second elbow reconstruction surgery is very slim, and many of them have their careers vastly shortened even if they do come back effectively.

Daniel Hudson, who was once a starting pitcher before undergoing two Tommy Johns, has been able to stick around by moving to the bullpen. Nathan Eovaldi is the most successful case of a second Tommy John, but the list doesn’t extend much further.

The odds have been stacked against Buehler from the beginning, but perhaps a full offseason of health and a reset can help him get back on track. Buehler is also one of the smartest pitchers in baseball, which does give him an edge in trying to figure this out.

Dodgers confident in Walker Buehler

Earlier this season, Roberts expressed confidence that Buehler could be an impact pitcher for the Dodgers in the postseason if needed.

As it currently stands, Buehler would appear to have a spot in the Dodgers postseason rotation, but that could change based on performance and pitchers returning from injury.

Tyler Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto are projected to return before the playoffs, and they’ll join Jack Flaherty as the top three options. After that, whoever is healthy and pitching the best down the stretch would seemingly have the edge on the final spot or two.

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Walker Buehler made his second start off the 15-day injured list on Tuesday and again struggled with inconsistency in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-3 comeback win over the Seattle Mariners.

The right-hander immediately put the team in a deficit when he allowed a two-out, two-run single to Jorge Polanco in the first inning. Buehler later gave up an RBI double to Polanco in the third that extended the Mariners’ lead to 3-0.

The 30-year-old bounced back with a scoreless fourth inning to end his outing. He walked three batters and only had one strikeout due to being unable to put away batters.

“Yeah, in general, getting 0-2 is kind of a weird victory for me right now,” Buehler said.

“But, you know, I felt like I was kind of 0-2 or 2-0 the whole night. Made a couple bad pitches. Polanco got me twice and it was tough when he doesn’t come off the heater and try to throw kind of the front hip two-seamer and he kind of smother-hooked it and hit it hard for two in the first.

“I’m so tired of saying that I feel closer. But I kind of explained to people I felt like a bad version of myself in ’21 and I think that’s as close as I’ve felt to kind of me of old as I’ve I felt this year.

“I didn’t throw the ball well, and our team really helped me out and got us back into the game. And I don’t want to sound too optimistic about it, kind of because of the results. But you know, I came out of that one feeling pretty good about where I’m at and what we’ve done this week in terms of the delivery.

“And now it’s, I’ve been saying this, ‘I got to perform, and I got to perform,’ but I feel like I can actually perform now. And I’m going to have five, six days to throw and feel the same thing that I’ve been feeling the past three or four days. I feel better about it.

“And I think also this is the power of being on a team like this, right? I can throw the ball not great, we get their guy out of there quickly, and kind of chip away at it and then explode. And we got guys off the bench that are veteran players and really prepared, and J-Hey hits a big homer and wins us the game.

“So, yeah, it sucks, it’s hard to say keep sticking with me, but I feel a lot better about it. And obviously it’s nice not to lose every game that I start.”

Buehler, who missed nearly two months due to right hip inflammation, believes his outing against the Mariners could be a building block for his next start.

“I mean, before I had the hip thing, honestly, I felt very, kind of hopeless in terms of the way my delivery was working, and felt like a very lost year for me,” he explained.

“And I think not so much in Milwaukee, but the bullpen in St. Louis and then today have kind of given me, at least mentally, some, hope is too desperate of a word, but I feel a lot better about the way that I am able to throw the baseball.

“And now I got to go get results and all that stuff. But hopefully I get a couple more starts to figure it out and get kind of that confidence built back up. But I think I feel better about tonight than the line would suggest, and it’s been a long time since I felt that way.”

Walker Buehler finding delivery

Buehler clarified that his delivery is getting closer to where he wants it to be. “I don’t want to get too technical, just because it is what it is, but there’s some things that you have to do in delivery,” he began.

“I haven’t been drifting down the mound at all. I haven’t gotten any forward move, and I’ve just kind of been stuck. And when you’re stuck, all that weight transfers, and your hand can kind of go anywhere. And tonight I felt like I actually got out forward and sort of moving a little quicker, which puts my hand in a lot closer, a lot more similar position more often.

“And to me tonight, the misses, if I missed by two feet to the left, my hand told me that I had missed by two feet to the left. It wasn’t kind of this weird mystery that I’ve been dealing with for a long time, and everything just made a lot more sense.

“And I wish I would have performed better in saying that, but it just felt a lot more like how I know how to pick up my leg and throw a baseball.”

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Walker Buehler made his return to the mound for the Los Angeles Dodgers after spending some time on the 15-day injured list to work on correcting some issues.

Buehler has had a tough time returning from his second career Tommy John surgery, like many other pitchers have before him.

Prior to going on the IL, he owned a 5.84 ERA and 1.51 WHIP through eight starts.

On Wednesday, he was only able to go 3.1 innings, allowing four runs on three hits with four walks and three strikeouts. While only one run was earned, he was fortunate to only allow four runs total to begin with.

Buehler was frustrated with his command during the outing, and he’s still looking to find a way to clean up the issues he’s been dealing with, he said via Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:

“A lot of near-misses. A lot of bad pitches in bad spots,” Buehler said. “The Bauers homer, trying to go down away and miss up in. The Turang miss (a second-inning triple) was not good enough.

“Just frustrating. Not getting ahead kind of the way I’m accustomed to and then even at certain times getting ahead and going 0-2 (to) 3-2 a few times. Stuff to clean up, stuff to figure out.”

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts also saw the same issues with Buehler, most notably that his mechanics were off, which led to the poor results:

“Just from the eye test, he was out of sync tonight,” Roberts said. “I think his throw was inconsistent, and obviously the delivery was inconsistent. He didn’t get ‘Strike one’ very often tonight. He was working behind hitters, and then you’re trying to find your way back into counts. It’s hard to live like that.

“I think you see, he’s still searching.”

While it was another game for Buehler to forget, and the results certainly were far from encouraging, he did also have a positive takeaway from the outing:

“I feel closer than I did a couple months ago,” he said. “But at the end of the day, there’s a standard of performing here. I’m very aware of where I’m at in that standard. Keep plugging away. Wish isn’t the right word, or hope, but keep hopefully doing the right things and it’ll come together.”

Buehler’s season ERA now sits at 5.58 in 40.1 innings. Time is running out for the Dodgers to get him back on track, and it’s seeming more likely his time with the club is coming to a close.

Walker Buehler embraces Dodgers pressure

Buehler is well aware of his need to improve in order to help the Dodgers achieve their World Series goal, but he’s trying to embrace the pressure.

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The Los Angeles Dodgers took a deliberate approach with Walker Buehler as he navigated the recovery process from a second Tommy John surgery, but that has not yet paid dividends.

Buehler had an aggressive goal of returning late in the 2023 season before he and the Dodgers agreed to shift the focus to this year. The right-hander did not pitch in any Spring Training games and his 2024 debut did not come until May.

Buehler was inconsistent, if not struggled, through eight starts prior to being placed on the 15-day injured list with right hip inflammation. He now returns Wednesday to face the Milwaukee Brewers as the Dodgers’ rotation absorbed another injury with River Ryan needing Tommy John surgery.

Not one to make excuses for subpar performances, Buehler is well aware of his need to improve in order to help the Dodgers achieve their World Series goal, per Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:

“The standard here is different. It’s not just work through it and take your lumps,” Buehler said Tuesday. “I expect to throw the way I used to. But it’s not just me that expects that. It’s our standard of what we’re trying to accomplish here.

“You can’t pitch to a 5.00 ERA and expect to help us win a World Series.”

Buehler is 1-4 with a 5.84 ERA and 1.51 WHIP through eight starts so far this season. His best outing came against the Cincinnati Reds on May 18, during which Buehler had seven strikeouts and allowed just three hits over six scoreless innings.

Shortly after going on the injured list, Buehler went to Cressey Sports Performance in Florida in effort to correct various issues that plagued his return. He remained in contact with Dodgers pitching coaches during that time.

Buehler then rejoined the team at Dodger Stadium for a homestand last month and threw an encouraging bullpen session.

“Walker looked really good. What stood out for me was the fastball, the life to the fastball. The delivery to most people’s eyes doesn’t look different, but I think the delivery was cleaned up,” manager Dave Roberts said at the time.

“More efficient, consistent. Command was good with the fastball. The secondary was fine. It was a good ‘pen, so we’ll kind of circle up and figure out what’s next for Walker. Today was a good day for Walker. It was an aggressive ‘pen.”

Buehler joined Triple-A Oklahoma City three days later.

Walker Buehler’s rehab assignment

Buehler threw 5.1 innings last week in the final start of his rehab assignment with the Oklahoma City Baseball Club.

He allowed just one run and one hit — a solo homer — while finishing with three walks and five strikeouts. Buehler walked the first batter of the game but proceeded to retire the next 13 in a row. The streak was snapped on the solo home run allowed with one out in the fifth inning.

Buehler threw 85 pitches (48 strikes) and reached the sixth inning for the first time during his rehab assignment.

Across three rehab starts for Oklahoma City, Buehler allowed a combined nine runs on 16 hits, and had 14 strikeouts over 12.2 innings.

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