Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — It wasn’t exactly the Return of the King. But it was a good show nevertheless. Walker Buehler‘s return to the mound at Chavez Ravine was far from triumphant, but everyone involved should be feeling pretty good about what happened at Dodger Stadium on Monday night.
If you look at the stat line itself, it’s not too impressive: 4.0 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K. 77 pitches, 49 for strikes. However, there was a lot of reason for optimism after Buehler’s first start in almost two years.
First, while he did give up three runs, he wasn’t exactly getting knocked around the yard. In the first inning, a run scored on an infield single, a stolen base, and another single. Another run came in when a runner on first advanced to second on a fielder’s choice and then scored on a single. Nick Gordon‘s home run ball in the second came within an inch of being a long flyout when it bounced out of the webbing of Andy Pages‘s glove. Not exactly the Bronx Bombers.
And the better news is, after that first couple of innings, things got better. A lot better. Buehler struck out two in a scoreless third, and then faced the minimum in the fourth after a double play erased an earlier HBP. That seems like something that he could build on going forward.
“It was great to see him back on the mound, pitching for us in the big leagues,” said Dodgers catcher Will Smith after the game. “It took him a couple innings to settle in, then two zeros in the third and fourth. I’m just happy he’s back and looking forward to the next one.”
“When we put together this roster and his anticipation, he was right there in the center of it,” manager Dave Roberts said in his postgame presser. “So getting a staple part of the rotation with his track record, the compete, having him as an active player in the dugout, being an active member of the team, that’s impactful.”
“That stuff is still electric,” agreed Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman. “It’s nice to see No. 21 on the mound again.”
There will be better starts in the future, but you have to start somewhere. And when you have the competitive drive of Walker Buehler, there’s no doubt that he has started to scale back up the mountaintop.
“Walking in from the bullpen was one of the cooler probably moments of my career, just the wave of people,” Buehler said in the wake of Monday’s performance. “It’s meant a lot to my family and me to play here and be a part of the success of this organization. And so to come back and kinda have that feeling is pretty cool.”
It’s pretty cool for all of us.
