Looking to snap a two-game losing streak, the Los Angeles Dodgers again are on the road for a matchup against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Fields.
Walker Buehler makes his fifth start of Cactus League play and is coming off a solid outing against the Chicago White Sox. He allowed just one unearned run on five hits with five strikeouts in four innings pitched.
In four games, Buehler owns a 1-1 record with a 4.50 ERA and 1.42 FIP over 12 innings of work. He has allowed 16 hits but sports an impressive 11-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
Buehler revealed he is focused on replicating his playoff success this 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.”
Dennis Santana, Victor Gonzalez, James Pazos, Landon Knack and Alex Vesia are among those available to pitch after Buehler. Pazos was part of the group of seven players sent to Minor League camp on Tuesday morning.
The Brewers counter with Corbin Burnes, who is in the midst of a spectacular spring. He enters Tuesday’s start with a 6.2 scoreless innings streak, having allowed only two hits and two walks in three starts.
Burnes enjoyed his best season in 2020, going 4-1 with a 2.11 ERA, 2.03 FIP and 1.02 WHIP across 59.2 innings en route to a sixth place finish in National League Cy Young Award voting.
The Dodgers’ lineup largely resembles what could be seen on Opening Day, only with Clayton Kershaw starting instead of Buehler. Although Will Smith may be the primary catcher throughout the season, it’s often been Barnes behind the plate for Kershaw’s outings.
Dodgers lineup
RF: Mookie Betts
SS: Corey Seager
3B: Justin Turner
CF: Cody Bellinger
1B: Max Muncy
LF: AJ Pollock
2B: Gavin Lux
C: Austin Barnes
P: Walker Buehler
Brewers lineup
2B: Kolten Wong
1B: Keston Hiura
LF: Christian Yelich
3B: Travis Shaw
C: Omar Narváez
RF: Billy McKinney
SS: Luis Urías
CF: Garrett Mitchell
P: Corbin Burnes
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