Dodgers RHP Walker Buehler returns from IL in loss to Brewers - ESPN

MILWAUKEE — After missing the entire 2023 season to recover from Tommy John surgery, Walker Buehler wants to regain his All-Star form and help the Los Angeles Dodgers in their playoff push.

But his results this season show he still has a long way to go.

Buehler came off the injured list Wednesday after missing nearly two months with right hip inflammation, but he couldn't protect an early 3-0 lead as the Dodgers fell 5-4 to the Milwaukee Brewers. The two-time All-Star struck out three but walked four batters and allowed three hits and four runs — one earned — over 3 1/3 innings.

The 30-year-old Buehler owns a 1-4 record and a 5.58 ERA in nine starts this season.

«I feel closer than I did a couple months ago, but as I've said, at the end of the day, there's a standard of performing here, and I'm very aware of where I'm kind of at in that standard,» Buehler said. «Keep plugging away. 'Wish' isn't the right word, or 'hope,' but keep hopefully doing the right things and it will come together.»

Buehler finished ninth in the National League Cy Young Award balloting in 2019 and fourth two years later, earning All-Star Game selections each of those seasons. But his 2022 season ended in June as he had to undergo Tommy John surgery. He missed all of last season while recovering.

He was inconsistent in eight starts this year before his hip injury put him back on the injured list. Now he's trying to regain the form he showed before his elbow issues.

«I've been out a long time but also been healthy and throwing a long time, so there's not a ton of excuses I have for it other than I keep trying this and that and this and that and haven't found kind of what sticks,» Buehler said.

His performance Wednesday exemplified his recent