Walker Buehler knows pain. Knows what it feels like when somethingâs off, when a tweak isnât just a tweak. So when his shoulder started barking after a mid-April start in Tampa, the Red Sox right-hander feared the worst. And considering his surgically reconstructed elbow and extensive injury history, who could blame him?
Turns out, itâs not catastrophic. Itâs bursitis. Annoying, yes. Concerning, a little. But not season-altering. Buehler, now on the 15-day injured list, expects to miss just a couple of starts.
âIâm a guy that has pitched through a lot of things,â Buehler told MassLiveâs Chris Cotillo. âThe fact it was just bursitis and I had to go on the IL is embarrassing for me in some ways.â
He first felt the shoulder flare during that April 15 outing against the Rays. At first, it seemed like a familiar ghostâsomething reminiscent of an old shoulder issue heâd never disclosed publicly. That one, Buehler admitted, was a Grade 3 tear. So yeah, the alarm bells went off.
Buehler Opens Up on Arm Pain, Timing, and Playing the Long Game
âIt felt very similar to the only other shoulder thing Iâve dealt with in my career, which wasnât a very good thing and wasnât a publicly known thing,â Buehler said. âI was just concerned that it was something more than it was and luckily it wasnât.â
Lucky, but frustrating. This shoulder hiccup couldnât have come at a worse time. After a rocky Red Sox debutâwhere he posted an 8.68 ERA over two startsâBuehler had settled into a groove, carving hitters up with a 2.59 ERA and 22 strikeouts over 24 1/3 innings across his last four outings.
And then the shoulder wouldnât cooperate. âNot being able to play catch for a day or two is one thing, but we got into Day 3 and 4 and I couldnât throw the ball right,â Buehler said. âThereâs things you just donât push through.â
Still, if it were October? Heâd be pitching.
âThis is not the time you want to go on the IL, when youâre feeling pretty good,â he said. âAt the end of the day, Iâm here in Boston to play in October and Iâm trying to get this stuff put to bed now.â
The plan is straightforward. Buehler received an injection to ease the inflammation, took three days off from throwing, and is eyeing a game of catch on MondayâBostonâs off-dayâas his first step back. If that goes well, mound work could follow, and Buehler could be back by mid-May.
âThe results of my MRI and the quality of my shoulder is still really good,â he added. âItâs just a little bit more bursitis than Iâve always had. The joint just starts moving differently and things feel weird and press on different stuff.â
Weird? Yes. Worrisome? For now, not really. For Boston, this is more of a maintenance pit stop than a full-blown breakdown. But in a year where durability has been a question for much of the roster, even the minor stuff matters.
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