Walker Buehler allowed five runs (three earned) in the offensive haven in Triple-A Albuquerque. When he might return to the Dodgers remains to be seen.
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Walker Buehler in his fifth minor league rehab start pitched into the fifth inning for Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday night in the high altitude of Albuquerque.
Buehler’s trouble came in the second and third innings, allowing a home run in each inning. He also gave up three doubles, and a total of five runs, three of them earned in his four-plus innings.
He came out to start the fifth inning but walked the leadoff batter on six pitches to end his night after 86 pitches. After looking back at the scoreboard to see where the pitch ended up, Buehler turned and appeared to say, “That’s so bad” toward home plate, possibly about the automated ball-strike system that is used for Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday games in Triple-A.
That was the second walk of the night for Buehler, down from four last Thursday in his wildest outing to date. The stuff was good, as Buehler struck out five and induced 15 swinging strikes. He got a called strike or whiff on 32.6 percent of his pitches. To put the latter in perspective, Buehler in his career has a 29.3-percent CSW% (called strikes plus whiffs percentage) in the majors.
After only two of his nine curveballs last Thursday in Oklahoma City were strikes — “He just couldn’t land the curveball, and I appreciate that he was trying to do that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Saturday — Buehler on Wednesday landed all six curves for strikes, including a pair of swinging strikes. Though one of the home runs was hit off the pitch.
What’s next for Buehler remains to be seen, and will likely involve conversations between Buehler, the coaching staff, and the front office, about when Buehler might be activated by the Dodgers.
Oklahoma City next week is home to face Salt Lake, the Angels’ Triple-A affiliate. The Dodgers will be in Phoenix to play the Diamondbacks.
Buehler in his five rehab starts — four with Oklahoma City, one with Rancho — allowed 12 runs (nine earned runs) on 19 hits in 16⅔ innings, for a 4.86 ERA with 16 strikeouts and nine walks.
