May 6: Los Angeles officially activated Buehler, as expected. To clear space on the roster, the Dodgers placed Joe Kelly on the 15-day injured list. The veteran reliever is dealing with a posterior shoulder strain.
Kelly is the fifth Dodger reliever on the shelf, joining Evan Phillips, Brusdar Graterol, Ryan Brasier and Connor Brogdon. Kelly has pitched to a 4.73 ERA through 13 1/3 innings on the season. His strikeout rate has dropped from an excellent 35.7% clip to a solid but not elite 24.1% mark in the early going, though he continues to throw exceptionally hard and is still inducing plenty of grounders.
May 2: The Dodgers will activate Walker Buehler from the 15-day injured list on Monday, manager Dave Roberts told the L.A. beat after last night’s win over the Diamondbacks (link via Fabian Ardaya of the Athletic). He’ll take the ball to kick off a series against the Marlins.
It’ll be Buehler’s first major league appearance since June 10, 2022. The two-time All-Star went on the injured list 12 starts into the ’22 season with a flexor strain. After an unsuccessful attempt to rehab, he underwent a Tommy John procedure in August. That was the second such surgery of his career. Buehler also underwent Tommy John shortly after the Dodgers selected him out of Vanderbilt back in 2015.
While there was initially some thought that the right-hander could make a return late in 2023, he and the team decided it was better to play things safe and look ahead to ’24. The Dodgers started Buehler on the IL this season to afford him ample time to build back to peak form. He’d very likely have been on some kind of innings limit anyhow, so it’s understandable the Dodgers didn’t want to push him back onto the MLB roster too quickly.
Buehler began a rehab stint right around Opening Day. That stay in the minors probably lasted a little longer than the organization intended. Buehler was knocked out of his third appearance early when a comeback liner hit him in the throwing hand. That didn’t lead to any kind of serious injury but slightly delayed his pitch count build-up. Buehler walked four hitters in 2 2/3 innings in his fourth outing, so the Dodgers gave him two more Triple-A appearances to continue shaking off the rust.
While his cumulative results on the rehab stint — a 4.15 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks in 21 2/3 frames — were middling, Buehler is coming off his cleanest outing. He tossed five innings of one-run ball for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Tuesday. Buehler punched out five and didn’t issue a walk. He pushed his pitch count to 75, so he should be able to handle something approaching a standard starter’s workload immediately.
Buehler will get a soft landing in his season debut, as he’ll take on a Miami club that ranks 28th in on-base percentage and 29th in slugging. If he’s able to recapture his pre-surgery form, he shouldn’t have any issue taking on more challenging offenses as the season progresses. Buehler was one of the sport’s best pitchers between 2018-21, combining for a 2.82 ERA over 95 outings. He was off to a more pedestrian start to 2022, pitching to a 4.02 ERA through 65 frames with a diminished 21.2% strikeout rate. Buehler’s velocity and swinging strike percentage were in line with their previous levels, though, so he’d likely have turned in his typical top-of-the-rotation results down the stretch if not for the injury.
The Dodgers have gotten solid production out of their rotation thus far. They rank eighth in the majors with a 3.48 earned run average and sit sixth with a 24.1% strikeout rate. It has been a top-heavy group, though. Tyler Glasnow has been excellent. Yoshinobu Yamamoto has rebounded from a nightmare MLB debut to rattle off a 1.64 ERA in the subsequent six starts. The back half of the rotation has been shakier.
James Paxton’s solid 3.51 ERA belies an untenable 22:15 walk-to-strikeout ratio. Gavin Stone has struggled. Bobby Miller landed on the injured list after three starts with shoulder inflammation. Emmet Sheehan, Tony Gonsolin, Clayton Kershaw and Dustin May have been on the shelf all year. Landon Knack turned in decent results over three starts since Miller’s injury. The Dodgers optioned him back to OKC yesterday.
The 2024 campaign is a crucial one for Buehler personally. He’ll be a first-time free agent next winter. His health history will likely worry some teams regardless of how he performs over the next five months, but he’s one of the higher-ceiling pitchers in the upcoming class. If he stays healthy from here forward, he could position himself well for a long-term deal heading into his age-30 season.
This one belongs to the Reds
So much for Buehler’s days off.
SweetBabyRayKingsThickThighs
The Marlins are practically a AAA team this year so it’s like half a day now
MLB Top 100 Commenter
The Dodgers wanted Buehler to get one more rehab start against AAA team and the Marlins were available.
BlueSkies_LA
Touché. :)
Hotdog 2
Why no comments on urias article?
Lloyd Emerson
So trolls can’t troll the comments.
MLB Top 100 Commenter
The interesting part is mostly how long a suspension, 12 to 24 months?
vtadave
69 months
Rsox
Because it’s too sensitive a topic for their liking and they don’t want to moderate it.
Bart Harley Jarvis
Because the exponential level of trolling would cause a catastrophic breach of the MLBTR warp core. It’s for everyone’s safety.
paddyo furnichuh
And the closest neutrino cluster is in Romulin territory
BlueSkies_LA
Thread hijack in three… two…
Steve Adams
Because we’ve polled readers at multiple points in the past and every time learned that a significant majority doesn’t want comments turned on for domestic violence stories.
fred-3
If you’ve seen people on this site talk about non-baseball topics, you’d know why
MetsSchmets
Maybe billions of comments! Why would they want all that stupid Internet traffic?
Yankee Clipper
Speaking of Urias, who gives him the first shot?
Hotdog 2
Mexican league.
Bart Harley Jarvis
Trevor Bauer?
brodie-bruce
@bart harley jarvis
Maybe if wasn’t such a bell end (alleged off field issues aside) because of his award winning personality he doesn’t have many friends in the mlb.
Bart Harley Jarvis
I enjoyed your ‘bell end’ reference, and I agree with the sentiment.
I was answering YC’s question, “… who gives him the first shot?”, literally. I was wondering if Trevor Bauer will be giving Julio Urias his first shot.
brodie-bruce
@bart
Thanks once I found out what bell end ment I went that is a great way to discribe a Richard head
vtadave
California Penal League
paddyo furnichuh
No random drug testing in those wild CPL games.
brodie-bruce
@yc
Hope your doing well
That’s a good question, might also be in his favor to get a or guy/gal to help with the fallout.
Also hasn’t he already been suspended for all of this, because so can you suspend him again. I know the nfl tried that for rice but the feds said that was “double jeopardy”, granted it was kinda moot because he was blacklisted after
Yankee Clipper
Hi Brodie! I hope you’re well too, man. I forget if he’s already been suspended, to be honest. If he has been then you’re right, he can’t be suspended again for the same incident.
I agree with you. I think teams would like to see stability and growth in his personal life. But, with all the pitching going down, I could see a team signing him to a short-term contract.
How do you feel about your Cards season so far?
BlueSkies_LA
He is still on administrative leave pending the MLB investigation, which would mean he’d be collecting a salary if he was under contract with a team. If a player on probation translates into being on the MLB restricted or ineligible list (don’t know if it does) then the MLB investigation would be effectively moot.
brodie-bruce
@yc
I’m doing good and not feeling great, but we didn’t do much to improve and Ollie is still managing so I didn’t have much hope for my birds. It’s a bit depressing most of my life the cards were a winning team now we might be entering a stretch of some bad baseball, still going pull for my birds thick and thin but bad baseball is still bad baseball and the cards are playing bad ball.
Citizen1
A team that doesn’t want to win and says no contest. White Sox or a’s in 2026.
paddyo furnichuh
The comment board was a big bowl of entropy after Ohtani signed, but the site seemed to handle thousands of comments well enough.
fox471 Dave
Hotdog: no comments on Urias because the article is about Buehler?
BlueSkies_LA
Stone is a work in progress but he hasn’t really “struggled.” He’s got a FIP of 3.66 and only one bad start out of the five.
Shadow Banned
I mean he is in California maybe Stones getting Stoned before each start
straightuphonestguy
FIP can be misleading because it greatly obfuscates batted ball data. He’s averaging 5 IP in 5 starts with a SIERA over 5. I agree that he’s still a work in progress.
BlueSkies_LA
Every stat can be misleading. Probably why FIP looks significantly better than ERA in his case is the one game where he got shelled was at Wrigley.
straightuphonestguy
That’s true, but SIERA is much more predictive for future ERAs than FIP, and I believe slightly more so than xFIP (IIRC). Of course, pick your poison. I read xwoBACON performed even better, but I can’t find that in an easily searchable database.
paddyo furnichuh
There is a BACON-related statistic? Maybe there is supporting stats for the Twins’ lucky summer sausage
Bart Harley Jarvis
I’ve been pushing for xWOBALONEY, but I couldn’t get any traction. Maybe xWOBACON has a chance?
Brew’88
Stone has been impressive, actually. Nice decision to ease WB back with a Marlins batting order
holecamels35
Why give him an innings limit? Last year before FA and already had his arm worked on twice, just let it rip.
gbs42
You’re quite the humanitarian, hc.
Old York
Just in time for the playoff push…
MysteryWhiteBoy13
The Dodgers aren’t recalling Julio Urias? Why not
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
Dude’s a free agent….
JCL10
Dude’s a criminal…
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
His next gig will be in Asia or Mexico.
Deleted Userr
Should be reinstating Trevor Bauer
BlueSkies_LA
And the president of the Cult of Trevor club rings in and tries to hijack yet another discussion.
Citizen1
But dak prescott probably won’t even be suspended. Arrest, not charged.
Tom the ray fan
Does yout throat hurt yet?
benhen77
Reinstate from what? He is neither suspended nor under contract.
MetsSchmets
I hope he knows you’re really REALLY in his corner. He’d probably say Thank You and wouldn’t even choke you very hard
sergefunction
Trevor Bauer remains unavailable, being on the Infinite-Day Douchebaggery List.
But, don’t ever give up hope, Harambe. Things could happen – such as 45 becoming the next MLB Commish instead of becoming 47. When that happens, Your Hero will return to the mound.
Deleted Userr
Not what “unavailable” means
gbs42
You critique someone’s use of “unavailable” when you misuse “reinstate?” That’s amusing.
vtadave
How would they reinstate a guy who isn’t under contract?
BlueSkies_LA
Or more accurately, how can you reinstate a guy who has already been reinstated? Reinstated is not the same thing as employed. He’s eligible, but nobody wants him even for practically nothing.
Salad Daze 22-27
troll
Deleted Userr
Says the guy with the gimmicky username
Salad Daze 22-27
pick a better martyr
Niekro floater
Harambe is Trevor Bauer ! It all makes sense now. Were on to you Trevor. There’s always the Atlantic league if u miss playing ball that much. Not sure about Atlantic league groupies but hey lil sweet talk, nice romantic dinner, n a flowing bloody nose … Love.
sillyscully
After watching the 23-24 free agent class barely get any long term deals, I HIGHLY doubt Walker will get more than 1, or 2 years with an opt out, even if he’s lights out. If Urias returns to the game, it won’t be with the Doyers. Violence and politics need to stay far, far away from baseball!
BlueSkies_LA
Given his age, talent and history, he’s a perfect candidate for a one-year pillow contract with performance bonuses.
C Yards Jeff
Wishing Walker the best. That said; this site has not had an Ohtani article in awhile. He is not hitting with RISP. Do you have a take?
sillyscully
Hoping Walker can bounce back too! In reality, he may not be 100% until next season, but I have hope he can at least get a good 15-18 starts in this year.
As for Ohtani, I think he is figuring out what it looks like to actually have RISP in consistent at bats, compared to earlier in his career. Even during the beginning of the season, the Dodgers didn’t put many guys on base ahead of him other than Betts (because bottom of the order couldn’t hit). This has now changed with the addition of Pages and Rojas hitting hot. The biggest issue I am seeing specifically from Oh, is he swings for the fences on any count, any amount of runners on base. I think it’s just about the reps and learning better situational hitting. He studies every at bat on the handheld directly after going into the dugout. RBI’s will come soon I’m sure.
CommentsSectionCommenter
@C Yards Jeff
I mean, there are comments that don’t age well, and then there’s this thing………
Mickey Solis
So Buehler is a rare original Dodger but the team was so worried he may not be fully dominant they had to buy two superstar pitchers to go along with the three purchased MVPs atop their lineup. The Dodgers have made a mockery of a broken MLB system and with all these big names and no sign of stopping buying more big names they’re finally going to be the dynasty they think their entitled yet passive and know-nothing fans deserve.
sillyscully
Sounds a bit bitter no? Any team could have signed Shohei for what the Dodgers gave him. He’s only making $2 million per season with the rest deferred. This is well-known, public knowledge my friend. He chose to be on the Dodgers because they have an owner willing to spend profits on his ballclub and consistently win. The coaching staff is one of the best in MLB, undisputed. Essentially…your trolly comment sounds like the beat of a trash can…
Mojo37
What’s broken is YOU Mickey.
vtadave
you mad bro?
derail76
What do you mean by rare original Dodger? That team is loaded with guys that came from that system, and they still have one of the best farm systems in the game today. The only reason that you think baseball is broken, is that your team didn’t sign Shohei. They draw more fans than any other team, both home and away. And for tax purposes, they’re spending less than the Mets, so there’s that. Let me guess, you complain that your team won’t spend, but you’ll also complain that the Dodgers owners do. So which is it? What’s broken? I think it’s you.
trueblueinbak
Awe! Do you miss your binky?
JackStrawb
Good luck to him. Betting on the 7-8 year warranty for a 1st TJS is still a winner. What’s it for the 2nd…. 4-5 years?
ohyeadam
How is it every time the dodgers have an “injured” pitcher one of their currently “injured” pitchers is magically ready?
CantStop27
Phantom injury to keep them on the shelf. Dodgers are good at doing that. MLB allows them. Mets tried and they got punished. Mlb wants their big market teams to look good
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
Mets play in a bigger market, so….
Mojo37
@CantStop
May I borrow your fake moon landing VHS?
derail76
Cute name, but the IL can certainly stop him.
sorengo99
Gonna love him on a $15MM 1-year pillow with the Os next year.
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
Already a rough first outing….
flyinhawaiian
They play 9 innings kid. Keep up!
Jerry Hairston Jr's Toupee
It is what it is. The velo was fine, but the fastball was catching too much plate. Conversely, the offspeed stuff was nowhere near convincing. In time, he’ll get it ironed out….
trueblueinbak
The “Gavin Stone is struggling” is from someone who isn’t paying attention. He’s been rather brilliant of late and rebounding from a horrible start of his own.