2023-09-09 14:10:00
Alden Gonzalez, ESP Sep 9, 2023, 10:10 am ETLread: 3 min.
Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler will not pitch this season as he continues to recover from a second Tommy John surgery.
Any hope that Walker Buehler would return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ much-needed rotation before the start of the postseason was officially dashed Friday when the team announced that Buehler, in the final stages of his recovery from a second Tommy John surgery, will focus on “return to the start of the 2024 campaign.”
“My goal since last year has been to return to a Major League mound this season,” Buehler wrote in a statement. “After many conversations with my doctor, the Dodgers front office, the training staff and my family, we concluded that waiting until next season is the correct course of action. I am disappointed that I cannot help this team to chase a title in the 2023 postseason, but I hope to return fully healthy in 2024 and bring another World Series to Los Angeles.”
Buehler first underwent reconstruction of his ulnar collateral ligament shortly following becoming the 24th pick in 2015, then underwent a second procedure near the end of August 2022.
Buehler, 29, had initially aimed to be a full member of the Dodgers’ rotation in early September, a goal that coaches and executives considered admirable but overly ambitious. However, as the regular season drew to a close, the idea of Buehler starting in October games (although perhaps not facing a rival lineup more than once or twice) was beginning to look like a possibility. He had faced hitters several times in Arizona and then pitched two scoreless innings in his first rehab start with the team’s Triple-A affiliate on Sunday. His second (and potentially penultimate) rehab outing was scheduled for Friday. But now that won’t happen.
Buehler didn’t necessarily suffer a setback; He almost ran out of time. But his status creates even more uncertainty surrounding the Dodgers’ playoff rotation. The team already lost Tony Gonsolin and Dustin May for the rest of the year, and Julio Urías, arrested Sunday on suspicion of felony domestic violence, is on administrative leave and is considered highly unlikely to pitch once more this season. . Clayton Kershaw, meanwhile, pitched with decreased velocity earlier this week, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts admitted that Kershaw is experiencing shoulder problems. The team’s other veteran, Lance Lynn, has allowed a major league-leading 40 home runs this season.
The Dodgers are expected to rely heavily on young starters like Bobby Miller, Ryan Pepiot, Emmet Sheehan and potentially others when the games matter most.
Buehler was previously in line to return regarding 13 months following Tommy John surgery, within the typical recovery range of 12 to 18 months. But coming back from a second procedure has proven more difficult, with Nathan Eovaldi probably the most successful case study.
Buehler is on track to become a free agent following the 2024 season.
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