Walker Buehler has already developed a well-earned reputation for being a big-game pitcher but if there’s one aspect he’s yet to achieve, it’s providing the Los Angeles Dodgers with a similarly impressive effort during the regular season.
Buehler owns a serviceable 3.44 ERA in his young career, though it pales in comparison to a 2.35 ERA in the postseason. One explanation is he’s used the regular season to continue fine-tuning due to irregular buildups during Spring Training. And last year specifically, Buehler was bothered by lingering blister issues.
Now coming off a winter in which he continued throwing and is making his way through a normal spring progression, Buehler is focused on replicating his playoff success during the regular season.
“It’s kind of a weird thing to talk about myself, but with some of the things I’ve been able to do in the postseason, I kind of want to do those all year,” he said. “I feel like last postseason was good for me.
“Obviously I want to go a little bit deeper in a lot of those games, but yeah, I would like to be more consistent and do that all year. I think everyone wants to be better. That’s probably the area of improvement for me, is to be good early in the year, throughout the year and then still be able to do what I want and what the team needs at the end of the year.”
Buehler’s latest progression was pitching three innings against the Cleveland Indians. He allowed two runs on five hits, but also finished with four strikeouts.
“Another step forward. I felt better today than I have previously, so another step forward,” Buehler said. “Obviously still don’t want to give up runs, but for the most part felt pretty good and made some better pitches. Got a little more swing and miss in there, so felt good about it.
“Usually by now I’m throwing my first game of the year. To have three under my belt and repeat the three innings, I’ll probably go four next time, maybe four-plus. We’re getting there.”
Buehler takes responsibility for prior routine
Prior to Spring Training this year, Buehler had taken the approach of not throwing during the offseason. That arguably has fueled arm and shoulder issues once Buehler was in camp and thus delayed his buildup.
“It wasn’t the team’s fault,” he said. “I’ve always just been kind of a little banged up. I don’t know if it was me trying to do a little too much at home too early, or not realizing I have so much time. I think a lot of it has been I’ll stare down two weeks to camp and try to get going a little bit more and want more for myself.
“Kind of realize in the spring, my velocity 10 days ago or whenever it was against San Francisco, wasn’t where I wanted it to be but it’s climbing and getting back to where I want. This is the first time I’ve really dealt with that and dealt with a real kind of progression through it. It’s been a good learning thing for me, for sure.”
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