In what has been an otherwise bleak few weeks, a light emerged from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen Thursday night in the form of Walker Buehler. The organization’s top prospect made his MLB debut in the team’s seventh consecutive loss, which took some of the sting out of the continued struggles.
Buehler’s arrival had been rumored for months, though the Dodgers waited until the last minute to confirm it. His debut could have been a disaster, much like his initial outing with Triple-A Oklahoma City, in which Buehler failed to retire the first five batters faced before being pulled.
Luckily, for him and Dodgers fans alike, that was not the case against the Colorado Rockies. Facing veteran slugger Carlos Gonzalez, Buehler came out of the bullpen with his typical explosive fastball.
His first pitch was clocked at 98 mph, which is about his usual velocity. Buehler’s second fastball, however, registered at 100 mph. Needless to say, he was a little amped up.
Buehler then spun his curveball, which he throws in the low 80s, and it gave hitters and Yasmani Grandal issues. It broke so hard and so late that Grandal had trouble catching it.
Gonzalez spoiled a good curveball, then went with a 99 mph fastball away that stayed just inside the third-base line and beat the shift for a single. But Buehler kept his composure and battled back against Jonathan Lucroy, pumping another 100 mph fastball for a first-pitch strike.
The young righty stuck with the heater to induce a double play three pitches later. Buehler went to the breaking stuff against Mike Tauchman, throwing a pair of curves before tossing his first slider to record the final out of the eighth inning.
In his second inning of work, Buehler squared off with Charlie Blackmon, who’d reached base in each of his first five plate appearances. Buehler started Blackmon off with a curveball, then blew a 98 mph fastball by him to get ahead 0-2.
After a ball and a pitch that was fouled off, Buehler threw a curve that just nipped the bottom of the strike zone for a called strike three, his first Major League strikeout.
The next batter didn’t fare much better. Alexi Amarista also fell behind 0-2, then swung and missed at a 97 mph heater up and away. Fellow rookie Ryan McMahon swung and missed at the first pitch, then took three balls to get ahead in the count.
Buehler regained his composure, threw a great curve that was grounded to Cody Bellinger, and Buehler easily covered the bag to record the final out.
Buehler showed the stuff and composure of a seasoned veteran, and athleticism by covering first base twice to record a pair of outs. His control was good, as 18 of 26 pitches went for strikes.
And he only threw one slider, a pitch that can be a weapon for him moving forward. A handful more outings like this, and Buehler could garner serious consideration for a spot on the Dodgers postseason roster.
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