The Los Angeles Dodgers took care of business in the rubber match of a three-game set against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, defeating their National League West rival, 6-1, to clinch a third consecutive series victory as a result.
Walker Buehler dominated in what was his seventh Major League start of the season, successfully logging seven innings while only allowing four hits and one run. He additionally accumulated eight strikeouts without issuing a walk.
For Buehler, it was his second straight outing having completed seven innings of work after failing to do so in his previous five starts due to high pitch counts.
While it was widely assumed that the 23-year-old’s impact in the Majors would be limited because of an innings limit, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts revealed that Buehler will remain in the starting rotation going forward as long as he’s physically up for the challenge, via J.P. Hoornstra of the Southern California News Group:
“That’s a conversation,” Roberts said. “A lot of it is on how he feels … how he’s doing, how his body’s responding to the long season. As we get deeper into the summer we’ll keep an eye on Walker. There’s really no hard number for Walker as far as innings. It’s just kind of how he’s feeling.”
Nearly three years removed from Tommy John surgery, Buehler is currently on track for the biggest workload of his professional career. He credits his previous experience with pitch counts in Little League for helping him get accustomed to similar restraints in the Majors.
Sunday marked Buehler’s final start in May — capping off an incredible month for the rookie to say the least. In five starts, the right-hander posted an excellent 2.32 ERA and 0.74 WHIP across 31 innings pitched with 37 strikeouts to only five walks.
As part of our efforts to help you understand how we handle the personal information you share with us, and in preparation for the new European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), we’ve updated our Privacy & Cookies Policy. The updated Privacy & Cookies Policy will take effect on May 22, 2018. By using our services on or after that date, you’ll be agreeing to our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy. We recommend that you read our updated Privacy & Cookies Policy in full.
