Walker Buehler continues Triple-A injury recovery: What is Tommy John surgery?

Walker Buehler will have to wait a little longer for his return to the LA Dodgers’ rotation.

The 29 year old pitcher will continue his rehab assignment in the minor leagues with Triple-A side Oklahoma City. Buehler suffered an injury to his pitching elbow in June 2022 and has not played in MLB since.

Now close to a return to the Dodgers, Buehler played his fifth game in the Minor Leagues last Wednesday and pitched five innings in Albuquerque. But while his injury recovery is thought to be going well the star pitcher is struggling to find form, allowing two home runs, three doubles and a total of five runs across the second and third innings.

Despite his poor form, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman was optimistic about Buehler’s progress: “I’ve seen it with a lot of major-league pitchers who are on a rehab assignment – the adrenaline is different. I don’t think we’ll have a really good answer until he’s built up and back. But we’ve all seen Walker a lot over the years and we would absolutely bet on him.”

What is Tommy John surgery?

Walker Buehler is one of countless MLB stars to require an ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, better known as Tommy John surgery. The procedure involves a ligament in the elbow being replaced with a tendon from elsewhere in the body, or even from a donor. The recovery typically takes 12 to 18 months.

The first known example of a professional baseball player receiving the surgery came in 1974, when a Los Angeles Dodgers physician administered the procedure to MLB pitcher Tommy John.

Given the enormous strain that a career as a pitcher places on the elbow ligament the process is a common one in baseball and Walker Buehler has now undergone the surgery twice. First, soon after signing for the Dodgers in 2015, he was sidelined for 18 months after receiving the treatment.

After returning to the team and making two appearances in the MLB All-Star game, he required arthroscopic surgery in 2022 to remove bone spurs from his elbow. Another Tommy John surgery was required to aid his recovery and he has not yet made a single major league appearance since the operation.