Walker Buehler's rehab situation with Dodgers is incredibly bizarre

We haven't gotten much of a timeline on Walker Buehler's return to the Dodgers, but then again, Dodgers fans haven't exactly been begging for one. Buehler's initial return to the team after almost two years gone after Tommy John and a tumultuous recovery process was pretty disastrous; he made only eight starts for a 5.84 ERA before going down again with hip inflammation. This new Buehler was a far cry from the Dodgers' two-time All-Star and Cy Young candidate.

He went onto the IL again in June, around the same time as Yoshinobu Yamamoto, leaving the rotation threadbare. But Yamamoto's absence, with a 2.92 ERA and $325 million contract, was certainly more of a concern for fans.

If it feels like Buehler just vanished into the void for a month, that's because he sort of did. Fabian Ardaya reported that Buehler took his wife and daughter south to Florida to work out some of his issues at Cressey Sports Performance, a private facility (subscription required). Outside of videos sent to Dodgers trainers, he didn't have much communication with the team.

This is...unusual, to say the least. The Dodgers gave Buehler runway to work back at his own pace, which certainly represented a flip in the script from how his first return went, with Buehler pushing the team to let him come back before he was actually ready and the Dodgers saying 'no' every time. They need pitching, but not the kind Buehler was providing. He's back in LA and could embark on another rehab assignment soon.

Walker Buehler's second road to recovery for Dodgers has been weird

When Buehler returned to the IL, it definitely smelled of a phantom IL situation given his performance. However, in true Buehler form, he said, "I had a hip problem. I think it’s kind of f—ed up that everyone assumed I didn’t have something."

Buehler said it was his idea to find "another set of eyes" to put on him, and the Dodgers let him. As Brandon Gomes said, "He was confident that’s what was best for him. We stayed in touch along the way. We were good with it because so much of this is that if the player is confident in what they’re doing, it’s going to help them come back and perform at a high level."

To a certain extent, Buehler has earned the right to call a few of his own shots. The aforementioned accolades and a 2.94 career postseason ERA speak to his history of effectiveness with the club, but we have yet to hear word on how much his sojourn actually worked for him, and don't know how much still needs to be done.

Hopefully it was productive, and hopefully he'll be back soon and feeling like a brand new man. The Dodgers could certainly use postseason Buehler when they get into October.