Steve Webb
LOS ANGELES, CA — Fun fact: If you show up to Dodger Stadium with a “Walker F’n Buehler” T-shirt, the Dodger Stadium security will make you turn the shirt inside out so that other denizens of Chavez Ravine will not be exposed to the T-shirt’s “implied profanity.” My wife found out this little tidbit of information the hard way on Sunday. However, much as my wife may argue to the contrary, this is NOT the main Walker Buehler news to come out on Sunday. In fact, our missing ace is back in action, making his first start in over a year down on the farm at Oklahoma City.
So how did it go? Well, pretty f’n good if you ask me. Looking great right out of the box, Buehler threw two perfect innings on 24 pitches, striking out two along the way. He did give up a couple of hard hit balls, but they were right at fielders, so no damage was done.
Buehler seemed to be a more buffed up version of the lanky righthander that we’re used to seeing on the mound at Chavez Ravine, perhaps evidence of a new workout regimen. In addition, the Kentucky flamethrower seems to have altered his windup a bit, making a more compact delivery of the ball to the catcher. Buehler, who tickled 99 and 100 mph in his early days with the Dodgers, was right around the mid-90s with his fastball, so it looks like his velocity is on the way back as well.
Now it’s important not to get too worked up about a Triple-A outing. After all, Gavin Stone crushed it down on the farm before getting a rude awakening in the bigs. And, we know from recent experience with Dustin May that not everything will be dialed in right away upon Buehler’s return to MLB action. However, given the rough starts of Thursday and Friday against the Braves, it would be amazing if we could roll out a refreshed and ready Buehler for 40 pitches or so in October. You get once through the lineup and then hand it over to Ryan Yarbrough or Ryan Pepiot or someone to get you through the middle innings, and then get your high leverage pieces to finish the game. It’s not the worst plan in the world.
Buehler is scheduled to make two more rehab starts with the OKC club before being activated to the big league roster. That would put his return sometime around the 18-20th of September. You could probably sneak in two, maybe three, major league outings from Buehler before the playoff run begins. That’s not a lot, but it’s probably enough to know whether or not he can be counted on for quality innings in October.
For now, though, we watch and we wait…
