June 5th, 2022 at 9:00 am 
by Ron Cervenka Despite his still respectable (now) 6-2 record, 27-year-old Dodgers right-hander Walker Buehler‘s recent struggles continued on Saturday night against the NL East first-place New York Mets at Dodger Stadium.
The Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt lasted only 2.1 innings, having allowed five runs on five hits, including two home runs, while striking out three and walking two in the Dodgers’ eventual 9-4 loss to the Mets; a game that Buehler’s teammates actually tied for him, albeit only briefly.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)
“It stinks to put your team in a hole after they score four runs for me. Kind of more of the same, it’s frustrating for me,” Buehler told reporters after the game.
“We’ve been fiddling with how I’m getting ready for starts for weeks now, I don’t think anything’s changing there,” Buehler added. “My preparation and the way that I train and go about my business is not going to change. We may do some different things and try and feel some things differently. I’m trying to figure it out. And I don’t like this any more than the next guy.”
“Obviously, I know Walker is frustrated. He’s competing his tail off, you know,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “It’s one of those things when you’re going good, and you’re not kind of, things aren’t going your way, guys hitting great pitches. You look at the (Pete) Alonso (home run) pitch, it was a great pitch, and he put a great swing on it. … I thought the stuff was good, I really did. He’ll work it out. He’ll figure it out; I have all the confidence in that.
“As far as kind of taking him out right there, you know, in the third inning, he’s up to 29 pitches, something like that, with one out,” Roberts added. “And so, for me, it’s kinda to what end am I gonna leave him out there. There’s stress; there’s a lot of pitches in a short period of time. He’ll be ready for his next start.”
That next start will most likely be on Friday or Saturday, June 10 or 11, at AT&T Park in San Francisco against the current NL West Third-place Giants.
Play Ball!
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