Much like with coming out of an offseason for the start of Spring Training, the Los Angeles Dodgers were cautious with building up Walker Buehler during Summer Camp. He was behind other staring pitchers who continued throwing during the MLB shutdown and played catch up the entire year.
The challenge of doing so in a shortened season was made all the more difficult when Buehler began to suffer from blisters. He twice was placed on the 10-day injured list because of the trouble.
Buehler and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts nonetheless continued to downplay them — though it wasn’t revealed until the postseason that a second blister had surfaced as well. Buehler appeared somewhat limited throughout October but still pitched effectively.
He regularly dodged questions when pressed for specifics on course of treatment, which according to Tom Verducci of Sports Illustrated, entailed laser therapy and the use of Stan’s Rodeo glue:
Now it can be told: Walker Buehler used low-level laser light therapy to manage the blisters on his index and middle fingers. “Every day, only about five to 10 minutes a day,” Buehler told me.
Buehler also used Stan’s Rodeo Ointment, the homemade concoction of former Dodgers trainer and rodeo cowboy Stan Johnston.
Buehler made five starts during the postseason, going 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA. He held opponents to a .196 batting average and collected 39 strikeouts against 12 walks over 25 innings pitched. He progressed with each outing and began throwing the cutter with more frequency, which had been a problem pitch because of the blisters.
The 26-year-old seemingly saved his best for last, logging six innings in each of his final two starts; they were the longest outings for Buehler in the postseason. The first of those came with the Dodgers on the brink of elimination against the Atlanta Braves in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.
Stellar as he was, Buehler credited Austin Barnes for guiding him through the start and in particular a bases-loaded jam.
Buehler not scared off by failure
Beyond having the talent and confidence to succeed when stakes are highest, another factor for Buehler is lack of fear over potential failure.
“I’ve been through it and I’ve been good after it,” he said. “That failure doesn’t really scare me anymore. Obviously you don’t want to fail, but there’s a different feeling when you’re not scared of that failure.”
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