The Los Angeles Dodgers’ injury woes got worse on Tuesday afternoon when Walker Buehler was placed on the 10-day disabled list with a right rib microfracture.
The injury took place during Buehler’s May 21 start against the Colorado Rockies when he was struck in the ribs by a line-drive comebacker off the bat of Trevor Story. Buehler did not leave that start and actually made three more after it.
Although, the rib issues caused him to leave his last outing against the Atlanta Braves after just 5.1 innings. At the time it was said to be because of rib soreness.
X-rays that evening came back negative and Buehler was diagnosed with rib soreness. An MRI revealed the microfracture, which is obviously not ideal for Buehler and the depleted Dodgers starting rotation.
Manager Dave Roberts is not overly concerned by the injury but also didn’t put a timetable on Buehler’s return other than estimating it would at least be two weeks off, per Andy McCullough of the L.A. Times:
Now Buehler will miss at least a couple of weeks, manager Dave Roberts said.
“That’s the hope,” Roberts said before Tuesday’s game. “But you never really want to put a timeline on something where there is a microfracture. You don’t know what type of pain Walker was in. Knowing Walker wants to pitch is a big thing. We’ll just continue to monitor his throwing.”
Buehler has been big for the Dodgers so far this season, stepping up with Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Kenta Maeda all missing time due to injuries. In nine starts at the Major League level, Buehler has gone 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA, 2.26 FIP and 0.96 WHIP while striking out 54 compared to 11 walks in 51.1 innings.
While it is not ideal that he will be missing some time, the Dodgers’ plan for Buehler since the beginning of Spring Training was to limit his innings this season. This is only his second full campaign removed from Tommy John surgery.
So this should help do exactly that, and then Buehler will still be able to pitch down the stretch of the season during a potential pennant race.
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