Dodgers’ Walker Buehler Starting for Rancho Cucamonga on Friday

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler’s minor league rehabilitation stint will continue — this time, bringing him back to Southern California.

For his third appearance of 2024, Buehler will take the mound for Low-A Rancho Cucamonga on Friday. The Quakes are in the midst of a six-game series against the Stockton Ports.

Buehler, who missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery, has already made two minor league rehabilitation starts for Triple-A Oklahoma City. His third start could well be his last. The Dodgers are beginning a homestand against the San Diego Padres today, so Buehler could conceivably make his fourth start of the season for the Dodgers without ever leaving Southern California.

In his first minor league rehab game, Buehler pitched 3.1 innings on March 31, allowing three runs in Tacoma while walking two and striking out two. His next outing went much better.

Buehler tossed 4.2 shutout innings against the Albuquerque Isotopes on April 6, didn’t walk a batter, and struck out six while allowing just two hits. After that game, Buehler said he was looking forward to the “last stage” of his rehab:

I’m kind of now trying to bust out of the safe zone and get to where I can perform at a high level. I get to where there’s inherent risk in trying to push, trying to throw 98. Getting out of that rehab mindset and into ‘I’ve got to go perform,’ the little-bit-scary moves that I have to do to really do that, is kind of that last stage of rehab.

— Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler, via the Just Baseball Fans show

Buehler has not appeared in a game since July 2018, a minor league rehab start.

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