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.”
Buehler getting tested tonight on rib area hit by liner last month.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 9, 2018
“He had a little trouble breathing and he was in pain.” — Dave Roberts.
— Ken Gurnick (@kengurnick) June 9, 2018
The final two fastballs Buehler threw were the slowest he’s thrown in the majors, which understandably concerned Roberts and led to the pull.
It’s still unclear what happened to Walker Buehler, but it’s worth noting that the last two fastballs he threw registered as the two slowest he has thrown in the majors.
— Pedro Moura (@pedromoura) June 9, 2018
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.
