“Huge blow to the Dodgers”- Twitter reacts to Walker Buehler’s undergoing season-end elbow surgery
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Walker Buehler
Right-hander Walker Buehler will have season-ending surgery on his right elbow on August 23, the Dodgers announced on Monday. He was diagnosed with a Grade 2 flexor strain on June 10 and has been sidelined ever since. According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, Dr. Neal ElAttrache recommended surgery even though Buehler’s latest MRIs were insufficiently conclusive to identify the degree of the injury to his elbow. The Dodgers will presumably offer more information after the treatment has been completed.
The Dodgers undoubtedly believed that Buehler might be able to make a comeback in late September and/or possibly in the postseason after the injury initially called for a six- to eight-week suspension from throwing. He won’t start throwing again until the first part of the next season. The team failed to offer specifics on the nature of the treatment in its first announcement, so more information is unclear.
Buehler, 28, came in fourth place for the National League Cy Young Award last year but has experienced several arm problems this year. Buehler underwent an arthroscopic treatment to remove a bone spur from his elbow, an ailment he claimed had bothered him for the previous few seasons, as it became evident that the forearm injury would keep him out of action for as long as three months.
Buehler’s innings in 2022 have been restricted to 65 due to arm problems, during which time he has had a 4.02 ERA and a career-low 21.2% strikeout rate. By his lofty standards, they are unimpressive; they are both roughly in line with MLB starting pitchers’ league average output (4.09 ERA, 21.4% strikeout rate).
Walker Buehler established himself as a “Rock” in the Dodgers nation
Buehler has established himself as a stalwart in the Dodgers’ rotation and as one of the National League’s most gifted pitchers going back to his first complete big league season in 2018, which was in 2018. Even with the abundance of missed time this year, he is ranked 23rd in the Majors for innings pitched from 2018 to 22. Out of 152 qualified starting pitchers in that time, he is also ranked seventh for ERA (2.95), 25th for strikeout rate (27%), and 32nd for walk rate (6.2%).
Buehler would be guaranteed to receive a contract offer even if he needed Tommy John’s surgery and would have to miss the bulk of the 2023 season, which, to be clear, has not been suggested or even mentioned by the team. The second year of a two-year, $8MM contract that bought out Buehler’s first two arbitration years was the 2022 season. As a Super Two player, he will be arb-eligible four times, which means he still needs two raises. Given his light workload this season, the Dodgers have no choice but to keep him around as he will only receive a minor bump on his $4.25MM salary.
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Leslie Savio Baptist
(151 Articles Published)