Walker Buehler

Walker Anthony Buehler (born July 28, 1994) is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He was selected by the Dodgers 24th overall in the 2015 MLB draft out of Vanderbilt University, and made his MLB debut in 2017.

Walker Buehler
Buehler with the Tulsa Drillers
Los Angeles Dodgers – No. 21
Pitcher
Born: (1994-07-28) July 28, 1994
Lexington, Kentucky
Bats: Right Throws: Right
MLB debut
September 7, 2017, for the Los Angeles Dodgers
MLB statistics
(through August 9, 2020)
Win–loss record23–9
Earned run average3.17
Strikeouts390
Teams
Career highlights and awards

Amateur career

Buehler attended Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky.[1] He was drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 14th round of the 2012 Major League Baseball Draft, but did not sign and instead honored his commitment to Vanderbilt University.[2] As a freshman in 2013, he made 9 starts and appeared in 16 games. He had a 4–3 record with a 3.14 earned run average (ERA) and 57 strikeouts. As a sophomore, he went 12–2 with 111 strikeouts and a 2.64 ERA and was a member of the 2014 College World Series championship team.[3][4][5] On June 16, 2014, Buehler pitched 5.1 innings of no-hit relief, retiring the first nine batters he faced and striking out 7 batters in Vanderbilt's 6-4 win over University of California Irvine.[6]

After the 2014 season Buehler played for Team USA[7] and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League (CCBL).[8] He posted a 0.63 earned run average with 24 strikeouts over 28.2 innings pitched for the Red Sox,[9] and in the 2014 CCBL playoffs, he did not allow a run in 15.1 innings, won both of his starts, and was a co-winner of MVP honors,[10] leading the Red Sox to the league championship.[11]

In 2015, as a junior he posted a 2.97 ERA in 78.2 innings for the Commodores while striking out 81 and walking 25. During the course of his three-year college career, he went 20-7 with a 2.88 ERA in 49 games striking out 249 against only 83 walks.[11]

Professional career

Minor leagues

Buehler was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 24th overall selection of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft[12] and signed on July 17, 2015, for a $1.78 million bonus.[13] Soon after his signing, it was revealed that he would require Tommy John surgery and would therefore be sidelined for a year and a half with recovery.[14] He finally made his professional baseball debut on August 23, 2016 for the Arizona League Dodgers, striking out three and retiring all six batters he faced.[15] He was then promoted to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League on August 28.[16] He appeared in two games for the Loons, making one start, and did not allow a run or a hit in the three innings he pitched.[17] Buehler began the 2017 season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League and allowed only three runs in 16 ​1⁄3 innings over five starts before he was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League on May 2.[18] While with the Drillers, he made 11 starts with a 3.49 ERA and was selected to appear in the mid-season Texas League all-star game.[19] He was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers at mid-season[20] where he made three starts before transitioning to the bullpen in preparation for a potential September major league callup.[21] He had a 4.63 ERA in 23 ​1⁄3 innings for Oklahoma City.[22] At the end of the season, he was selected as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year.[23]

2017 season

The Dodgers added him to the major league roster for the first time on September 6, 2017[24] and he made his major league debut that night with two scoreless innings of relief against the Colorado Rockies. His first MLB strikeout was against Charlie Blackmon of the Rockies.[25] He picked up his first major league win with a scoreless inning of relief against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 21.[26] Overall, he appeared in eight games for the Dodgers in 2017, allowing eight runs in 9​1⁄3 innings (7.71 ERA) with 12 strikeouts and eight walks.[27]

2018 season

Buehler made his first major league start on April 23, 2018, against the Miami Marlins, pitching five scoreless innings.[28] On May 4, against the San Diego Padres he took a no-hitter through six innings, with eight strikeouts, until being taken out of the game after 93 pitches. Three relief pitchers combined to finish it off as the Dodgers won 4–0, the first combined no-hitter in franchise history.[29] He was placed on the disabled list on June 21 because of a rib injury.[30] He returned to make an appearance out of the bullpen on June 28 but he allowed five earned runs in one inning pitched before returning to the disabled list.[31]

On July 13, he made his first start in over a month against the Los Angeles Angels where he allowed two solo home runs to Kole Calhoun but no other earned runs.[32] He set a new career high in strikeouts with nine on August 22.[33] After three more nine strikeout starts, he struck out 12 on September 19 against the Colorado Rockies.[34]

On October 1, Buehler started the NL West Tie-Breaker Game against the Colorado Rockies. He picked up the win, giving up only one hit and allowing no runner to advance past second base. He also got his first career MLB RBI in his 47th plate appearance.[35] In 24 appearances for the Dodgers (23 starts and one relief appearance) in 2018, Buehler was 8–5 with a 2.62 ERA and 151 strikeouts.[27] On October 26, Buehler threw 7 scoreless innings in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Buehler finished third in voting for the National League Rookie of the Year, behind Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. and Washington Nationals outfielder Juan Soto.[36]

2019 season

On April 11, Buehler hit his first career home run off of Michael Wacha of the St. Louis Cardinals. On June 21, Buehler threw his first complete game against the Colorado Rockies, becoming the first Dodger pitcher with over 15 strikeouts and no walks. He struck out 16 Rockies giving up three hits on 111 pitches.[37] He was selected to the 2019 MLB All-Star Game, his first all-star appearance, in which he gave up one run in one inning.[38] On August 3, Buehler pitched another complete game, this time against the San Diego Padres. He struck out 15 Padre hitters and didn’t walk any, and San Diego’s only run scored on a Manuel Margot solo home run. At the same time he became only the third pitcher in MLB history (Dwight Gooden and Pedro Martínez) with multiple games with 15 strikeouts and no walks in the same season.[39] Buehler finished the 2019 regular season with a record of 14–4, and a 3.26 ERA in 30 starts, with two complete games and 215 strikeouts.[27]

Buehler was named the Dodgers’ game one starter for the NLDS. He allowed only one hit in six scoreless innings, while striking out eight and walking three to pick up the win.[40]

Personal

Buehler has heard the famous roll call scene from the 1986 classic, Ferris Bueller's Day Off many times throughout his life.[41] Buehler embraced the nickname “Ferris,” incorporating it into his Twitter handle and wearing it on his jersey during the 2018 MLB Players Weekend.[42] Walker chose to wear the nickname "Buetane"[43] for the 2019 MLB Players Weekend.[44]

See also

References
  1. Henry Clay senior Walker Buehler a standout on the mound and in the classroom Archived April 28, 2019, at the Wayback Machine
  2. "4.3 GPA, Blazing Fastball Lead to Vanderbilt Scholarship". Lexingtonfamily.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  3. Fields, Mike (April 30, 2015). "Henry Clay's Buehler chasing another title as Vandy visits Kentucky". Kentucky.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  4. "Vandy's 1-2 pitching punch back for SEC opener". Tennessean.com. March 12, 2015. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  5. Fields, Mike (June 13, 2014). "Henry Clay's Buehler key component of Vandy's run to College World Series". Kentucky.com. Retrieved September 7, 2017.
  6. "Vandy moves win away from spot in finals | NCAA.com". www.ncaa.com. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  7. "Walker Buehler joining Team USA". Vandy247. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  8. Burke, Caroline (October 26, 2018). "Walker Buehler's College Career: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  9. "Walker Buehler - Profile". Pointstreak.com. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  10. "Y-D's Walker Buehler and Marcus Mastrobuoni named Postseason Co-MVPs". CCBL. Retrieved July 13, 2019.
  11. "Meet Dodgers first-round draft pick Walker Buehler | Think Blue LA". Retrieved April 3, 2019.
  12. Weisman, Jon (June 8, 2015). "Vanderbilt RHP Walker Buehler taken in first round by Dodgers". Dodger Insider. Retrieved June 8, 2015.
  13. Simon, Andrew (July 17, 2015). "Dodgers agree with Buehler; Funkhouser back to school". mlb.com. Retrieved July 18, 2015.
  14. Stephen, Eric (August 4, 2015). "Dodgers 1st-round pick Walker Buehler to have Tommy John surgery Wednesday". SB Nation. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  15. Minami, Craig (August 24, 2016). "Walker Buehler makes his first professional appearance for Arizona Dodgers". SB Nation. Retrieved August 24, 2016.
  16. Stephen, Eric and Craig Minami (August 28, 2016). "Jose De Leon leads Oklahoma City to 2nd straight PCL division title". SB Nation. Retrieved August 28, 2016.
  17. "2016 Great Lakes Loons Statistics". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 19, 2016.
  18. Tripodi, Chris (May 2, 2017). "Dodgers promote Buehler to Double-A". milb.com. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  19. "Nine Drillers Named to 2017 TL All-Star Game". milb.com. Tulsa Drillers. June 14, 2017. Retrieved June 14, 2017.CS1 maint: others (link)
  20. Unruh, Jacob (July 18, 2017). "Dodgers: Pitching prospect Walker Buehler continues rapid rise through minors". The Oklahoman. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  21. Plunkett, Bill (August 10, 2017). "Dodgers Notes: Walker Buehler beginning bullpen audition for possible September role". Orange County Register. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  22. "2017 Oklahoma City Dodgers". Baseball Reference. Retrieved September 5, 2017.
  23. Stephen, Eric (August 23, 2017). "Walker Buehler, Keibert Ruiz named Dodgers minor league players of the year". SB Nation. Retrieved August 24, 2017.
  24. Callis, Jim (September 6, 2017). "What to expect from Dodgers' Buehler in big leagues". mlb.com. Retrieved September 6, 2017.
  25. Thornton, Joshua (September 8, 2017). "Buehler impresses in Major League debut". mlb.com. Retrieved September 8, 2017.
  26. Gurnick, Ken; Harris, Ben (September 21, 2017). "Dodgers rally in Philly, cut magic number to 1". mlb.com. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  27. "Walker Buehler Statistics & History". Baseball Reference.
  28. Gurnick, Ken (April 24, 2018). "LA wins 7th of 8 after Buehler's scoreless 5". mlb.com. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  29. Gurnick, Ken (May 5, 2018). "Dodgers combine for no-hitter against Padres in Mexico". MLB. Retrieved May 5, 2018.
  30. Gurnick, Ken (June 12, 2018). "Dodgers place Buehler on 10-day DL (rib)". mlb.com. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  31. Jones, Kaelen. "Walker Buehler struggles in return". MLB. Retrieved June 28, 2018.
  32. Duarte, Michael. "Walker goes 5 innings in first start in a month". NBC Los Angeles. Retrieved July 13, 2018.
  33. Morino, Matthew. "Sets new career high in strikeout with 9". Dodger Blue. Retrieved August 23, 2018.
  34. Padilla, Doug (September 20, 2018). "Buehler settles in, racks up career-high 12 K's". mlb.com. Retrieved September 20, 2018.
  35. Gurnick, Ken (October 1, 2018). "Buehler helps Dodgers win the West". mlb.com. Retrieved October 1, 2018.
  36. Gurnick, Ken (November 12, 2018). "Buehler finishes 3rd in NL Rookie of the Year". mlb.com. Retrieved November 13, 2018.
  37. Gurnick, Ken (June 22, 2019). "LA makes Buehler (16 K's!) a walk-off winner". mlb.com. Retrieved June 22, 2019.
  38. Kavner, Rowan (June 30, 2019). "Ryu, Buehler, Kershaw join Bellinger on 2019 NL All-Star Team". mlb.com. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
  39. Gurnick, Ken (August 3, 2019). "SoCal breeze: Buehler K's 15 Padres in CG gem". mlb.com. Retrieved August 4, 2019.
  40. Gurnick, Ken (October 3, 2019). "Buehler's gem sends Dodgers past Nats". mlb.com. Retrieved October 3, 2019.
  41. https://www.mlb.com/cut4/walker-buehler-to-get-ferris-bueller-bobblehead
  42. https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/news/dodgers-nicknames-for-2018-players-weekend-c289583540
  43. "All of the Dodgers' Players' Weekend nicknames". MLB.com. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
  44. "Every team's Players' Weekend nicknames". MLB.com. Retrieved September 3, 2019.
Awards and achievements
Preceded by
Sean Manaea		 No-hit game
May 4, 2018
(with Cingrani, García & Liberatore)		 Succeeded by
James Paxton
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