Seemingly nothing is going right for the Los Angeles Dodgers right now as they were swept at home by the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday night, falling 3-1 because of another home run Kenley Jansen surrendered.
The loss did not fall on Walker Buehler, however, as he was outstanding, tossing seven shutout innings, allowing just three hits and two walks while striking out a career-high nine batters.
Buehler has been on a roll as of late, and according to STATS LLC, he has accomplished a feat over his last five starts that no Dodgers right-hander has since Hideo Nomo in 1995:
Over his last 5 starts, Walker Buehler of the @Dodgers has 38 strikeouts and 4 runs allowed.
He's the first #Dodgers RHP with 35+ K & fewer than 5 runs in a 5-start span since Hideo Nomo did so in 1995, also as a rookie.
— Stats By STATS (@StatsBySTATS) August 23, 2018
Over that five-game stretch, Buehler has gone 2-1 with a 1.12 ERA, striking out 38 while only walking nine, which is certainly a positive sign considering he had a couple rough starts when he first came off the disabled list.
Buehler went into the 2018 season as the top prospect in the Dodgers organization, and he has been as advertised in his first full big league season.
The 24-year-old has appeared in 17 games (16 starts), posting a 6-4 record to go along with a 2.96 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He has struck out 102 and walked 23 in 94.1 innings.
Buehler likely won’t win the National League Rookie of the Year Award like Nomo did in 1995, but he looks to be on his way to having a very successful Major League career like Nomo, who pitched in the Majors for 12 years.
