Steve Webb
SAN FRANCISCO, CA — As if the game on the field hadn’t been frustrating enough, Dodger fans got more bad news away from the game on Saturday. Manager Dave Roberts revealed that Walker Buehler was heading to the IL for an extended period of time. He said that an MRI taken today revealed a strain in his elbow. No surgery is planned and Buehler is expected to return this season, but that obviously depends on how he recovers.
So at best, it would be a late August early September return for the Dodgers Opening Day starter. That is a whole mess of time to be without a pitcher who has been so vital to the Dodgers’ success for the past five seasons.
However, anybody who’s been watching this team in 2022 knew that something wasn’t quite right with Buehler this year. His fastball didn’t have the bite that were used to seeing. And “it is what it is” became a far too familiar response to reporters’ questions after sub-par performances.
This is shaping up to be by far the worst season of Buehler’s still-young career. His stats lag behind career norms, with a 4.04 ERA, 1.292 WHIP and career-low 8.0 strikeouts per nine innings. Buehler had been coming off the best regular-season performance of his career in 2021, a fourth-place Cy Young Award finish that saw him post a 2.47 ERA and 212 strikeouts in 207.2 innings.
What can the Dodgers’ do to fill the hole that Buehler leaves? Well, there are a few reasons why it might not be quite as dire as it might have been. First, Clayton Kershaw is back from injury. And, Andrew Heaney isn’t far behind. Plus, there are Danny Duffy and Dustin May waiting in the wings and expect to be activated sometime this season.
In the meantime, the Dodgers pen is going to have to step up. They aren’t going to have somebody going that consistent seven innings every five days.
We’ll see how the team reacts to the biggest test of the year so far.
Not great, Bob.
