Dodgers News: Walker Buehler Reveals Why He Decided to Shut Down Return This Season

Even with struggles from his teammates in LA’s rotation with either injury or ineffective starts, many surrounding the Dodgers organization anxiously awaited the potential return of Walker Buehler from his second Tommy John surgery.

Ultimately opting for shutting down his comeback attempt for 2023, the righty phenom described his thought process on the tough decision to sit out this year’s postseason push.

While it’s encouraging to hear it from the man himself, the Kentucky native had his own unique spin on his rapid recovery process in 2023, citing one of his favorite pastimes off the diamond.

“I feel like I kind of bet on a longshot horse and it ran second,” Buehler said. “I certainly don’t think it came in last.”

Encouraged by his sudden return back to game action, Dodgers fans find such a result bittersweet knowing they won’t have one of their best big game pitchers available to them for the postseason.

Buehler’s playoff heroics have been well documented by this point as his work in the 2018-2020 playoffs for the Dodgers have led to several wins and plenty of other games that should have been won.

Alas, the former Vanderbilt star will have to wait until 2024 to fully get back to a major league mound, though it was a long shot to even hope he’d return for October this season anyways.

Now the Dodgers will turn to their options in house as the playoffs approach with veteran options Clayton Kershaw and Lance Lynn easily penciled in as playoff starters.

After that, however, are plenty of names who could take the mound for a potential start in the NLDS as Bobby Miller and Ryan Pepiot are the most likely for this job.

Filling out the bullpen will be another task entirely without the services of Buehler’s arm, but Roberts’ management of the team through injury and influx of talent has been masterful in 2023.

All he needs to cap off his best year as the manager of the team is a World Series crown.

Photo Credit: D. Ross Cameron-USA TODAY Sports

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