Dodgers: Walker Buehler Goes to the IL, Joe Kelly to Start Serving His Suspension

It looks as though the Dodgers were being careful with Walker Buehler’s blister for a reason. After a short start against Arizona on Monday, the team opted to send him to the injured list today, retroactive to Wednesday. 

The move likely means that Buehler will only get one more start to make before the playoffs begin. After a slow start to the season, this doesn’t exactly instill confidence for Dodgers fans. Dave Roberts had previously said that they would be overly cautious with the blister on his finger though, so this could just be them eliminating risk. 

The Dodgers have recalled RHP Joe Kelly and placed RHP Walker Buehler on the 10-day injured list with a blister on his hand, retroactive to September 9. Kelly will begin serving his five-game suspension tonight.

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) September 10, 2020

Along with the move for Buehler comes the activation of Dodgers pitcher Joe Kelly. Don’t get too excited though, because Kelly will start serving his 5-game suspension immediately. Kelly had that knocked down from 8 games to 5 after an appeal filed with the league. 

Joe Kelly has not played in a game since August 8th when he pitched a scoreless inning against the Giants. Kelly has not yet been charged with an earned run for the Dodgers in 2020. 

For Buehler, it shows that there was more to the blister than meets the eye. After his start on Tuesday, Walker downplayed the finger issue after a rocky outing as where Dave Roberts was more mixed. With the postseason starting in about three weeks, the timing is rough for LA’s number two starter.

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