Friday was another brutal day for injuries to pitchers. It was announced that Shohei Ohtani is out at least several weeks with a UCL injury, Stephen Strasburg looked awful and left with an injury before the third inning began, Masahiro Tanaka injured *both* hamstrings running the bases, and Noah Syndergaard had a setback with a right finger injury.

And on Friday night, rookie pitcher Walker Buehler left the Dodgers’ game against the Braves with a rib injury. Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said that Buehler “had a little trouble breathing and he was in pain.”

The final two fastballs Buehler threw were the slowest he’s thrown in the majors, which understandably concerned Roberts and led to the pull.

Buehler was pulled after striking out Atlanta’s Johan Camargo for the second out in the top of the sixth (You can see video here). It was Bueher’s 71st pitch of the night.

He’d actually been brilliant in the game, with only on run, two hits, and no walks allowed in 5 1/3.

The 23-year-old has been incredibly impressive with a 2.63 ERA and 2.28 FIP in 51 1/3 innings during his rookie campaign. The right-hander’s lights-out stuff was on full display as the starting pitcher in the Dodgers’ combined no-hitter in Mexico against the Padres.

Hopefully it’s just a minor rib injury and Buehler will be okay. And the Dodgers certainly can’t afford more injuries to their starting pitchers, with Clayton Kershaw, Rich Hill, Kenta Maeda, Hyun-jin Ryu, and Julio Urias all on the disabled list.

About Matt Clapp

Matt is an editor at The Comeback. He attended Colorado State University, wishes he was Saved by the Bell's Zack Morris, and idolizes Larry David. And loves pizza and dogs because obviously.

He can be followed on Twitter at @Matt2Clapp (also @TheBlogfines for Cubs/MLB tweets and @DaBearNecess for Bears/NFL tweets), and can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.