The Dodgers Held Walker Buehler Out of Games Due to Concerns
One of the biggest concerns this Spring, other than the health of Clayton Kershaw, has been the slow-playing of Walker Buehler. With just two weeks left until Opening Day, the Dodgers’ ace in the making has barely thrown a few bullpen sessions. Dave Roberts clarified the slow play early on Wednesday.
Dave Roberts said club took a step back with Buehler earlier this spring because he “wasn’t really feeling right,” but he’s healthy now.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) March 13, 2019
There was not a whole lot of clarification on what it means to not feel right, but it would certainly explain a lot. Roberts went as far as to say it seemed like a sort of “dead arm”, but that was it. Buehler was easily one of the best pitchers on the team last season, and many expect him to take Kershaw’s spot on Opening Day. His lack of playing time in real games in Spring caused many to wonder if there were lingering issues as a result of the longest season of his young adult life.
Buehler pitched in 137.1 regular season innings in 2018, in addition to 23.2 in the regular season. A total of 161 innings of work is far and away the most Buehler has ever thrown at any level, despite the team insisting he would not pitch many innings in his first season. But Buehler impressed early and often carried the team at times, forcing management’s hand.
With this new concern in mind, slow playing Walker may be the way to go. In the same way that the team does not need Kershaw to rush back, I would much rather have a healthy Buehler after the start of the season.
However, luckily for Dodgers Nation, Roberts finally provided a timetable for game action involving the young ace.
Dave Roberts said Walker Buehler said he will pitch in a game Monday or Tuesday.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) March 14, 2019
As of today, Dave Roberts has full confidence that Buehler will be ready to pitch in games within the coming week. Something to keep an eye on at the very least.
THE DODGERS NEVER SENT MAGIC JOHNSON TO MEET WITH HARPER
I wish someone, anyone, would proof read these articles before posting. For a Senior Editor of the Dodgers Nation, please explain what you meant when you wrote this: “Buehler pitched in 137.1 regular season innings in 2018, in addition to 23.2 in the regular season.” Just wondering.
While the continuous bad editing (like what you point out here, typos, duplicate words, bad/missing punctuation, etc.) on this site annoys the crap out of me, I’ve just come to expect it and simply move past them. Fortunately, there is usually some good info here.
It’s all about the comments anyway. That’s the entertainment
I agree with what you are saying. I can’t believe the poor grammar and misspellings that appear in articles today. No reason for it. As per the article above he meant to say Buehler pitched 23.2 post season innings.
We are about to find out the real reason he has been “slow played”. Something is amiss with Ferris and it has been covered up under this strange scenario.
I had a feeling because of his TJ surgery and high velocity that he would be one of those guys that would get injured a lot in his career. He may not last very long kind of like Tim Lincecumbreath, although for different reasons. This is one reason why wasting World Series opportunities is very bad you don’t know how long you’re going to have certain guys
I coached Little League for over 20 years. In doing so I found it much better to pitch my 3 starters just 2 inning each twice a week rather than letting them pitch 6 innings (the mandatory Little League max at the time). No arm issues and no chance for the competition to time my pitchers. With eight starters the Dodgers could have each pitch 4 innings each with relief scheduled for the ninth. The process would be repeated every 5th game. No pitcher would go over 160 innings per year.
Kershaw & Buehler Urias & Stripling Hill & Maeda Ryu & Ferguson That still leaves Jansen to close and 4 relievers for extra innings and relief of the starters. Let me know what you think.
I think Guggenheim is making more money than ever, so extra spending for them is unnecessary.