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Dodgers righty Walker Buehler’s ‘confident’ reaction to return after 20-month injury rehab

Originally posted on ClutchPoints | By Quinn Allen | Last updated 5/7/24

After 20 months of rehabbing his surgically repaired right elbow, Los Angeles Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler finally returned to the mound on Monday evening. Although his outing wasn’t outstanding, Buehler sounded confident in his how things unfolded when it came to the consistency of his fastball velocity.

Via ESPN:

“I think I could be OK if I was 92-94 [mph]; I think I’m confident that way,” Buehler said. “But it helps a lot if I can throw 96 or 97. I’m very confident in my ability to do a lot of things with the ball. It’s just a lot easier for me to do it the way that I know how to do it. The idea that I can get pretty close to what I used to do, it makes it a little more attainable.”

Buehler got up t0 96 but he hovered around 92-94. The former Vanderbilt standout allowed three runs on six hits across four innings against a struggling Miami Marlins offense. But, most of the damage came in the first inning. Buehler eventually found a rhythm.

A long road back for Walker Buehler

Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler (21) pitches during the third inning against the Miami Marlins at Dodger Stadium Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports

Buehler had his second Tommy John surgery in August of 2022 and while he could’ve returned at the end of the 2023 season, the Dodgers played it safe and pushed back his eventual return to now. He made six rehab starts but did struggle at times with command, issuing more walks than we’re usually used to seeing from Buehler.

The righty is now focused on just trying to help the Dodgers win ballgames after finally making his season debut:

“The ceremony of it is done,” Buehler said. “Now I can kind of focus on trying to be good and helping our team. I wish it would’ve gone better. I wish I would’ve thrown five or six shutout innings and whatever. But it’s done. And I’m happy to be back.”

Walker Buehler joins a ridiculously talented rotation with the likes of Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and James Paxton. Bobby Miller is expected to be back soon, while Clayton Kershaw is aiming for a summer return. Buehler knows it’ll be hard to be their ace like he was once, but that’s not his focus:

“We’ve always had talented rotations, but this is a little bit different — especially with the two guys we have at the front of it,” Buehler said. “There’s just a lot of good things that come out of how much talent we have, how close we all are. We kind of push each other. I’m excited for that, and I just want to be a cog in that. I don’t think right now I’m going to be the No. 1 on our team, and that’s fine with me. I’ve been there before, and obviously I’m there right now. But I would like to push myself closer to that conversation. Whatever I need to do to help us win and get back to that I think is what our goals are.”

Onwards and upwards for Walker Buehler. The Dodgers ended up winning 6-3, improving to 24-13 on the season.

This article first appeared on ClutchPoints and was syndicated with permission.

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