When Walker Buehler joined the Los Angeles Dodgers last September, he experienced some of the growing pains that are commonly seen with young pitchers. The inability to put batters away and be efficient was again a talking point after his start against the Miami Marlins.
Heading into his first career Major League start, Buehler was earmarked to go six innings or 90 pitches. He threw 89 over five shutout innings, issuing three walks in the process. Buehler himself acknowledged to needing to improve with his efficiency.
That was an issue during Saturday’s start, as the right-hander went to full counts against the first three batters faced. The result was a leadoff single and one-out walk, which eventually led to a pair of runs scoring.
However, Buehler settled in from there to get through five innings with just the two runs allowed, earning his first win as a starter.
Following the game, the 23-year-old explained an adjustment he made to strike a balance between velocity and command, via Ken Gurnick of MLB.com:
“You start trying to beat guys with location instead of velocity,” Buehler said. “You find your release point. The first inning I was kind of all over. After that I located better. I wasn’t throwing a hundred but I wasn’t throwing soft. You kind of teeter that line of putting it where you want and trying to get the most out of your arm.”
The walk in the first inning was the only Buehler handed out on the afternoon. It can be reasoned he was able to pitch on the attack because the Dodgers scored eight runs through three innings and led comfortably from that point forward.
Being that he was recalled as the permitted 26th man for the doubleheader, Buehler on Sunday was optioned back to the Minors. However for a second time this season, he was returned to High-A Rancho Cucamonga in favor of Triple-A Oklahoma City.
It can be presumed the organization prefers to keep their top pitching prospect in close proximity in the event Buehler is needed in the near future.
