Los Angeles Dodgers rookie Walker Buehler was scheduled to make a rehab start with Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday, but that didn’t end up being the case.
Buehler instead hopped on a flight back to Los Angeles, where he was activated before the series finale against the Chicago Cubs. As such, Buehler was expected to throw three innings in relief of Clayton Kershaw.
He entered the game in the sixth inning with a 3-1 lead, but things didn’t go as planned. Buehler lasted just one inning, giving up five hits, a walk and five runs and the Dodgers wound up losing the game, 11-5.
After the game, manager Dave Roberts explained why the organization decided to change their plans with Buehler and throw him back into the fire of a Major League game, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“Every injury’s different,” Roberts said. “When you’re seeing the way (Buehler) is throwing the ball and is pain-free, I think it was pretty clear that – with the pitching that we had, the health, it made sense at the point in time.
“You get the comfort level and confidence in the player, in Walker, it was pretty easy for us to make that decision.”
With Josh Fields being placed on the 10-day disabled list before the game due to shoulder inflammation, the Dodgers bullpen was a bit depleted.
Therefore, Roberts believed that Buehler would be able to help cover a majority of those innings. While hindsight is always 20/20, pitching Buehler for the first time in three weeks in such a high-leverage relief role may not have been the best idea.
Buehler has been a starter his entire life and struggled in 2017 after being called up in September as a reliever.
The good news is that Buehler came out of the game feeling healthy, so his next outing will likely come in a traditional starter’s role.
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