Dave Roberts addresses the health and status of one of his top aces in the Dodger rotation.
As the Dodgers settle in to camp for the 2023 season, the team does so without ace right-hander Walker Buehler ready to contribute. The All-Star is sidelined after undergoing reconstructive elbow surgery (Tommy John) in August of last year.
On Thursday, manager Dave Roberts talked Walker, sharing on the pitcher’s status and his hope that he can buck the odds and return in time to contribute this season.
“I’m hopeful. I know Walker is and if it doesn’t happen it doesn’t, but I think that’s what people are expecting anyways. But with Walker, man, he’s a special athlete. … We’ll know more as time goes on.”
Usually, the recovery time for a pitcher coming off Tommy John is 12-16 months — depending on whether the player is building up to a starter’s workload or not. However, Buehler had the surgery for the second time in his career, which introduces a different set of variables in recovery.
If everything goes great, a 12 month recovery time would put his return around September. When asked if he would welcome Buehler in a relief role in an effort to get him back sooner, Dave Roberts said he’s open to whatever he can get.
“Having Walker healthy is valuable in any sense. So I don’t know what that looks like right now.”
In the offseason, Buehler shared that his hope and expectation is to contribute in 2023, but if that’s something that could potentially harm his career going forward, I’d rather see him err on the side of caution. The Dodgers have other relievers that could or should be returning from injury later in the season. If Alex Reyes and JP Feyereisen can come back and be effective by August, it feels like you can buy more time for Buehler to get right. For 2023 or 2024.
