MILWAUKEE — If you expected Walker Buehler to be a different player after his second Tommy John surgery, there were signs. There was the change in Buehler’s throwing technique, with the right-hander abandoning his signature motion of raising his hands above his head. His leg kick wasn’t as exaggerated. His stride to the batting plate was shorter, especially from extension. There were noticeable, visible differences when the former rising star of the Los Angeles Dodgers stepped onto a major league mound Wednesday night at American Family Field.
The results were, unfortunately, painfully similar. Buehler had a three-run lead before he even stepped onto the mound for his first major league appearance in two months, and yet the same problems arose. It wasn’t until the second batter of the night that the right-hander’s frustration bubbled up in a torrent of profanity. More followed one batter later, when Buehler loaded the bases before getting an out. The Dodgers lost 5-4, ending a five-game winning streak that had included a period of unfortunate poor defense – including a Mookie Betts error in right field that scored the winning run – and more questions from their starter.
“He was out of step tonight,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of a return that changed little.
Loss of control was a constant problem for Buehler, even after the soon-to-be free agent used his time on the injured list to rebuild his throwing technique at Cressey Sports Performance in Florida. He walked four of 18 batters and worked seven different three-ball counts. He ripped throws. He threw others too far and missed the side of his arm. He had little feel for his curveball, his only way to set velocity apart from the rest of his arsenal.
“I keep trying this and that and this and that, but I haven’t found what sticks yet,” Buehler said.
The one thing that has remained consistent with Buehler after his second major surgery is his inconsistency. He had a 5.84 ERA in his first eight starts before the Dodgers placed him back on the injured list in June because of a hip problem. Buehler used that time to refocus, saying last month, “I needed to be somewhere else” while trying to find himself again. That hasn’t worked out. His performance remains inconsistent and flawed.
“Just too many misfires,” Buehler said. “Too many gaps in my performance where little things can go wrong. … There are just too many little things that go wrong in the performance that I don’t control as much as I’d like.”
Kiermaier cannon! pic.twitter.com/SGagkqr0gS
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) 15 August 2024
His first sample after returning was more of the same. The Dodgers decided to bring up Buehler even though two of his three rehabilitation starts in the minors revealed several of the same command issues. The club trusts his pedigree and still believes his arsenal is good enough to strike out hitters, even though he hasn’t done so consistently since his return. If the Dodgers want to get to where they want to be in October, having Buehler back at some productive level would help.
So the Dodgers will be patient. How patient?
“It’s a fair question,” Roberts said Wednesday afternoon. “I don’t know the answer. I think with his track record he certainly deserves a longer runway. But what that means … is that three starts? Is it four or five starts? I just don’t know right now.”
His final performance on Wednesday against the Milwaukee Brewers, in which he allowed four runs — just one earned — and got just 10 outs on 87 pitches, was an infuriating performance that was only just worse. Buehler managed not to allow a run after loading all the bases in the first inning, and Kevin Kiermaier’s 99-mph throw to the plate helped him prevent Brice Turang from scoring on a sacrifice fly. In the fourth inning, he left a runner on base that Clayton Kershaw’s keen eye would keep off the board: The left-hander noticed Brewers infielder Joey Ortiz had slid to second base, taken a step toward first base and didn’t touch second again before going to third, allowing the Dodgers to score an out by appeal.
The Brewers came at him anyway. Jake Bauers jumped on a full-count fastball to his letters and beyond the plate for a solo home run. When Nick Ahmed botched Sal Frelick’s grounder to extend the second inning, Turang hit a curveball beyond the plate and over Kiermaier’s head in center for a triple. Jackson Chourio’s soft-hit single tied the early score and the tie lasted only until the fourth inning. Ortiz hit a soft grounder to a drawn-in Dodgers infield, but the ball rolled off Kiké Hernández’s glove at third base, leading to another run.
Buehler said he feels “closer” to where he last stood on a big league mound 57 days ago. His twice-repaired elbow doesn’t hurt as much anymore. And neither does his hip. He emerged from recent bullpen sessions encouraged. But it’s been difficult to translate that into effectiveness on the mound.
It was far from the performance Buehler or the Dodgers were hoping for, even after Roberts admitted before the game that he wasn’t sure what to expect from his starter of the night. That’s a tough way for the Dodgers to live.
After all, they can’t give him much wiggle room. They’ve been playing their best baseball in months, although Wednesday’s loss saw them lose their best record in the sport. Plus, their lead in the division shrunk to two and a half games while the San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks continue to win at a rapid pace.
“At the end of the day, there’s a standard of performance here,” Buehler said. “I’m very conscious of where I stand within that standard.”
This makes the stakes even higher every time Buehler steps on the mound.
“When you’re here, it’s about performance, and we all know that,” Roberts said. “So it’s not for lack of effort, lack of search, lack of competition, but you know, at some point we just have to get the production.”
(Photo: Stacy Revere/Getty Images)
