10:28 p.m .: Buehler will stop throwing for 6-8 weeks, Roberts told Jack Harris and other reporters as MRI revealed flexor tension. Although Buehler will have to regain his arm’s strength almost from scratch afterwards, Roberts believes the right will be able to launch again in 2022.
4:30 p.m .: After Walker Buehler left yesterday’s game with a right elbow discomfort, Dodgers coach Dave Roberts told reporters (including Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic and Jack Harris of The LA Times) that Buehler will be placed on the 15-day injury list. The team has officially announced the transaction, listing Buehler’s placement as a cause of tension in his right forearm.
Buehler is currently undergoing an MRI to determine the extent and nature of the injury, but Roberts said the right-hander will miss “a good while.” Right-winger Michael Grove will be called up to take Buehler’s place on the active list. Buehler underwent Tommy John surgery in 2015, and while he has since avoided any serious elbow / forearm problems, it is naturally a concern to see Buehler again abandoned with any related injuries. It will be known once the MRI results are revealed, as it is not yet clear if Buehler’s season (or beyond) could be in jeopardy.
At the very least, the Dodgers will have a big vacancy to fill the starting rotation, even if Buehler has not been at all his ace level in 2022. Buehler has an effectiveness of 4.02 on 65 innings, with a 6 , 2% very solid. hike rate, but a stain rate of less than 21.2% and disappointing Statcast figures. The biggest problem is Buehler’s fast four-seam ball, which was sometimes a more dominant pitch in 2018-21, but the batsmen have been playing with the four-seam this year. The speed has dropped to an average of 95.2 mph, though not far below the average speed of Buehler’s 96.1 mph race with his four-seam bike.
The Dodgers could have a rotation substitute for Buehler in a relatively short time, as Roberts said Andrew Heaney is ready for another rehabilitation start on Tuesday and could be activated from the IL for the Dodgers game with the Guardians on June 19th. Los Angeles also has days off on both Monday and Thursday, so a fifth short-term starter won’t be needed.
On the big picture, of course, losing Buehler for a significant amount of time will no doubt increase the Dodgers ’attention to adding the initial release to the deadline. Although LA has gotten its typically strong results from its rotation this year, the launch was already expected to be a target area, to add more depth and quality to the initial five. Baseball Operations President Andrew Friedman has not shy away from adding important names (including star pitchers like Max Scherzer or Yu Darvish) to the list in the earlier trade terms, so anything , from deep additions to hugely successful bids, could be on the table for the Dodgers before August 2nd.
Buehler is sidelined just as Clayton Kershaw returns from his own IL period, leaving the Dodgers still below their ideal top of the rotation. Kershaw, Julio Urias, Tony Gonsolin, Tyler Anderson and Heaney now make up the current top five, with Dustin May (TJ surgery) and Danny Duffy (flexor tendon surgery) expected to return sometime later in the season. Pitchers like Grove, Ryan Pepiot and Mitch White have also gotten some starting spots this season and could be re-applied for more rotation jobs or possible relief roles depending on how the club chooses to deploy any of those pitchers.