In Game 2 of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ series against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, Walker Buehler is expected to get the start for the team. Although Buehler’s season hasn’t gone as planned, considering how much time he missed after Tommy John surgery, he’s getting back on track really nicely.

Away from the field, Buehler and his spouse McKenzie welcomed Finley Wren, a daughter, in February. Buehler posted a picture of her on Instagram with the remark, “Gang.”

Buehler posted a picture of herself dozing on Instagram to declare her baby’s arrival.

“Here she is, Finley Wren Buehler! 7 pounds 2 ounces and in excellent health! We have Miss America 2045 on our radar! Training starts now!!”

In his three starts in 2024, Buehler has a 1-1 record and 13.1 innings pitched with 13 strikeouts. The pitcher for the Dodgers has given up 14 hits and 6 runs with an earned run average of 4.05, higher than his 3.04 lifetime average.

Walker Buehler talks about his third season start.

Last Saturday, Walker Buehler made his third start of the year in the Dodgers’ 4-0 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. Following the game, the pitcher talked with reporters about his hopes to get back to his previous level of performance (via The Los Angeles Times):

“I want to be really excellent again. I think I was fairly good at one point—I’ve started opening day and playoff series, and stuff like that. However, I believe I am capable of going 93–95 mph, as I did tonight.”

After being credited with his first victory since 2022, Buehler supported himself moving forward:

“Do I believe I can truly come back a lot after 100 innings [of the season], when everything is stretched out and I feel confident enough to feel that way? Yes, indeed, I believe it is still there. Simply said, there are more dominoes than I had sort of expected.

Buehler also talked about how he had to somewhat alter both his velocity and his style:

“I used to essentially only have my toes on the rubber, but now my entire foot is there,” Buehler remarked. “I’ve pitched there my entire career, so it doesn’t seem like that big of a change, but moving maybe six inches just makes everything look a little different.”I could only stand where I used to when I was younger. Although it’s a difficult pill for me to swallow, we’ve made progress and a lot of things have seemed to fall into place. Although the command was good, the velo wasn’t as good as it had been. Additionally, I believe that there is still a considerable amount of velo.

Seeing if Buehler can record his second victory of the year against the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday is a fascinating matchup.