Dodgers' Walker Buehler: Moves to bullpen

Buehler has been pitching out of the bullpen in his previous two outings with Triple-A Oklahoma and could finish the year as a reliever, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

The 2015 first-round pick has pitched well since returning from Tommy John surgery (3.32 ERA and 12.5 K/9 across three levels in the minors this season), but the Dodgers want to limit his workload by pitching him out of the 'pen. General manager Andrew Friedman acknowledged the workload limitations, but he also mentioned that the club is "getting a chance to see [Buehler] in that role to the extent that it potentially makes sense to bring him up in September." It doesn't sound like the conversion is a permanent one, but a move from a starter to a reliever would certainly hurt Buehler's dynasty appeal, especially in an organization that has a dominant closer like Kenley Jansen who effectively blocks any reliever from getting fantasy-relevant save opportunities for the foreseeable future.