Dodgers: Edwin Rios Blasts a Homer Off of LA Ace Walker Buehler

Edwin Rios takes Walker Buehler deep at Camelback Ranch.

Dodgers position players have begun taking live batting practice against their pitching counterparts at Camelback Ranch. It's an entertaining, and irregular sight. Justin Turner facing Clayton Kershaw is just plain strange to look at.

Edwin Ríos matched up against Walker Buehler on Thursday afternoon at the backfields in Glendale. Ríos absolutely crushed a homerun off of the Dodgers ace. Dodger Insider provided the video footage of Ríos' moon shot.

Edwin Ríos gets ahold of one. pic.twitter.com/n3apdc7rWr

— Dodger Insider (@DodgerInsider) March 17, 2022

Ríos played in just 25 games last season after suffering a shoulder injury. After the Dodgers initially downplayed the injury, Ríos underwent surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in the slugger's right shoulder. 

Back in September, the Puerto Rico native talked about having to watch the Dodgers from afar as he recovered from the procedure on an episode of Holding Kourt with Justin Turner's wife - Kourtney Turner.

“It was one of those frustrating things. I’d love to be here with the guys. After last year’s run, there’s nothing better than trying to defend that title. Just missing out, it sucks, it’s frustrating, it’s all kinds of things. But at the end of the day it’s something I’m definitely going to learn from. It builds character, resilience. I got knocked down, and now it’s time for me to get up, do what I’ve always done and just get ready for next year. Cheer you guys on during this whole run and hope for the best. I want you guys to win that championship and maybe next year we make it a three-peat.”

In his first 60 games in the bigs (2019-2020), Ríos posted a .972 OPS in 139 PAs. He had plenty of Dodgers fans excited about his potential. Those expectations have now been tempered and with the arrival of Freddie Freeman, the corner infielder's best case scenario is to be a valued bench player.