When It Mattered Most, the Dodgers Trusted Walker Buehler

After enduring a rough season, Walker Buehler returned to form when it mattered most in the playoffs and ended up closing the World Series.

Walker Buehler of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in game 5 to win the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - OCTOBER 30: Walker Buehler #21 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates after Dodgers defeated the New York Yankees 7-6 in game 5 to win the 2024 World Series at Yankee Stadium on October 30, 2024 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)

When the Los Angeles Dodgers began their postseason run one month ago, one could have looked up and down their roster and pointed to Walker Buehler as the weakest link on a team with championship aspirations.

With a rotation that lost their ace Tyler Glasnow down the stretch, along with countless others along the way such as Bobby Miller, Gavin Stone, and future Hall of Famer Clayton Kershaw, Buehler was one of just three men left standing for the Dodgers when the postseason began.

Set to square off against their chief rival in the NLDS, the Dodgers were going to go to war with midseason acquisition Jack Flaherty, prized free agent signing Yoshinobu Yamamoto and their former homegrown ace in Buehler.

The only problem from the outside looking in is that Buehler had not been himself for the majority of the 2024 season. Pitching in his first season coming back from Tommy John surgery, Buehler struggled to a 5.38 ERA in 75 1/3 innings during the regular season.

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He also dealt with a hip injury that derailed him in the middle of the season, having only returned to make eight starts down the stretch in August and September before getting his first playoff start in October.

That first start did not inspire any more confidence in Buehler’s skeptics, as he gave up six runs against the San Diego Padres as the Dodgers faced elimination for the first time in the playoffs in Game 4 of the NLDS.

Thanks to a lot of heavy lifting by their bullpen, and a solid five innings from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 5, the Dodgers shutout the Padres twice and advanced to the NLCS. They would never face elimination again.

When Buehler was set to take the mound for Game 3 of the NLCS, it was fair for outside skeptics to have doubts about whether the right-hander could get the job done.

But in the Dodgers clubhouse, and with their manager Dave Roberts, they still had the utmost confidence in handing the ball to Buehler.

Two great starts and exactly two weeks later, Buehler was handed the ball again with three outs left to get in Game 5 of the World Series, pitching on just one day’s rest. The homegrown ace and now two-time World Series champion got the job done with two strikeouts that announced to the world something that they always knew in the Dodgers dugout.

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Walker Buehler was not only back, he had never really left.

Postseason Reminded us All Who Buehler is

As we look back at what is now a complete title run for the Dodgers, their strategy for each series was nearly identical. Prioritize Jack Flaherty and Yoshinobu Yamamoto to open each series, and save their No. 3 starter of Buehler to open things up when the series goes to the road for Game 3.

While Flaherty was the ace based on the regular season, and Yamamoto was acquired to the be ace in the offseason, Buehler had more MLB playoff experience than anyone on the Dodgers, and even more than most in the playoffs.

By virtue of being a frontline starter for the Dodgers since his first full season back in 2018, Buehler has racked up a ton of postseason starts.

Coming into this October, Buehler already had 15 postseason appearances and 14 starts under his belt. We forget Buehler allowed just five earned runs in 25 innings pitched in the Dodgers World Series run back in 2020. That is a 1.80 ERA for those of you counting at home.

When Buehler was just 24 years old back in 2018, he went seven shutout innings against the eventual World Series champion Boston Red Sox in his first ever World Series start.

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It was all of this past experience that gave Roberts the confidence to trust Buehler with the ball, especially when taking his team on the road in hostile enviroments.

You might look back at Buehler’s first start this October and view it as a clunker because he gave up six runs, but he also got 15 outs. As we learn every postseason, outs are at a premium, and considering how thin the Dodgers were on starting pitching, each inning saved for their bullpen was an inning earned in a subsequent game.

Buehler’s loss in Game 3 of the NLDS put the Dodgers in a 2-1 hole in a five-game series, but his work bouncing back from a six-run second inning to go five was massive.

It set the Dodgers up to go to their best in a bullpen game in Game 4, and it was their dynamite bullpen that squeezed the life out of the Padres season. Two shutouts later, the Dodgers advanced on to the NLCS, where a red-hot Mets lineup was waiting for them.

Flaherty shut the Mets down in Game 1, but New York rallied back in Game 2 to score seven runs on the Dodgers in another bullpen game to even up the series at one win apiece.

Heading into Game 3, it looked like the Mets had the advantage with Luis Severino on the mound against Buehler. Pitching in his third season removed from Tommy John surgery, Severino was finally healthy and posted a 3.91 ERA over 182 innings pitched.

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Severino had made two playoff starts up to that point, and they were both quality starts going six innings and allowing three runs each time.

It was Buehler who won the head-to-head with Severino in the end though, as the 30-year-old held down the Mets lineup through four shutout innings where he got 18 whiffs on 34 swings and struck out six. He handed the ball to the bullpen with a 2-0 lead in the fifth and they did the rest.

Yamamoto threw a gem in Game 4 to put L.A. just one win away from the World Series. They lost Game 5 but picked up the clinching win in another bullpen game in Game 6.

In the World Series, the Dodgers were going to follow a similar flight plan, as they once again were squaring off against a team in New York, albeit one with a more pronounced championship pedigree in the Yankees.

Thanks to some heroics by Freddie Freeman, Flaherty, Yamamoto and the Dodgers bullpen, when Buehler was set to take the mound again for another Game 3, the Dodgers held a commanding 2-0 series lead. With the series shifting back to New York, the Yankees hoped they could turn the momentum. Unfortunately for them, they had to face Buehler.

Once again pitching in hostile territory in New York City, Buehler dominated.

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Across five scoreless innings pitched, Buehler allowed just two hits and two walks, while striking out five. Staked to a 4-0 lead, with the top of the Yankees lineup coming up, Roberts went to the bullpen to shut the door over the final four innings, moving just one win away from a World Series title.

Having thrown 76 pitches on Monday, it might have been a surprise that Buehler was even available two days later on Wednesday, but sure enough there he was in the bullpen for the later innings as the Dodgers inched closer to winning their second World Series in five years.

When Roberts was thinking over his scenarios entering Game 5, Buehler was not even considered an option as he was still needed to start if the series went seven. Buehler made himself available anyway, and as the game unfolded he became the Dodgers’ best option.

Jack Flaherty was knocked out of the game in the second inning having recorded just four outs, with Roberts going to his main relievers early to keep the game in reach. Anthony Banda got two outs in the second inning, then Ryan Brasier got three outs in the third.

Michael Kopech took the mound in the fourth inning, with the Dodgers trailing 5-0. This marked a real shift in strategy from Roberts, but with an off-day on Thursday, he was going for the kill.

The Yankees opened the door with some truly horrific defense in the top of the 5th inning, and the Dodgers capitalized with five unearned runs to make it a new game. Alex Vesia, Brusdar Graterol, and Blake Treinen combined to get the Dodgers through the first seven innings, while Buehler got hot for the 8th inning in the bullpen.

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Treinen was nails all postseason long, and Roberts kept him on the hill for the eighth inning with the top of the Yankees lineup coming up again. Already tasked with getting four outs, Treinen was pushed to the limit in that 8th inning, withstanding a double from Aaron Judge, as well as a walk to Jazz Chisolm, to get the Dodgers to the ninth inning with a one-run lead.

Treinen threw a team-most 42 pitches to get those seven outs, but the Dodgers still needed three more if they were going to become champions. Having used six relievers already, Roberts had two options for the ninth inning, Buehler, or Daniel Hudson.

Considering the fact the Hudson was coming off allowing four runs a night prior, and two-straight days with 20+ pitches thrown, Buehler was the best choice. Setting the stage for an unbelievable moment of redemption for a guy who has gone through a lot over the past two and a half years.

When Buehler went down with TJ in the middle of the 2022 season, he was coming off a four-year stretch where he was one of the premier starting pitchers in Major League Baseball.

Across all qualified starting pitchers in that four-year span, here are the ERA leaders.

  1. Jacob deGrom – 1.94 ERA over 581 innings pitched
  2. Justin Verlander – 2.56 ERA over 443 innings pitched
  3. Max Scherzer – 2.74 ERA over 639.2 innings pitched
  4. Walker Buehler – 2.82 ERA over 564 innings pitched
  5. Gerrit Cole – 2.85 ERA over 667 innings pitched

Being a shortlist that included four future Hall of Famers is not a bad place to be, as Buehler’s career got off to a fantastic start. A second Tommy John surgery derailed things for Buehler, who missed half of 2022, and all of 2023, before finally returning to a big league mound for the first time in 2024.

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For this turbulent season to end recording the final three outs of the World Series is something out of a movie. The fact that he did it with a 1-2-3 frame, getting the final two outs via strikeouts made it all the more remarkable.

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What’s Next for Walker Buehler?

Walker Buehler is not only now a two-time World Series champion with the Dodgers, he is also suddenly a free agent. Going into the playoffs, the future of Buehler with the Dodgers may have been a bit uncertain, but now how can they possibly let him go?

One thing that might not have been considered a month ago is now at play, as there is every chance the Dodgers extend Buehler the $21.05 million qualifying offer to return next season. Considering the fact that Buehler probably still needs to prove his return over a full season, what better way to do it than taking that offer if it is extended to him.

Another route of return for Buehler is the five-day negotiating period where the Dodgers alone can talk with their homegrown starter before he officially hits the open market. Maybe they settle on an incentive-laden contract, despite what figures to be a crowded rotation next season.

If he’s not back with the Dodgers, Buehler may have boosted his stock as much, if not more than any impending free agent this October, as teams may be looking at him completely differently after ending the postseason on a run where he did not allow a run across 13-straight innings.

Regardless of where things go from here for Walker Buehler, his story is one of the best that can be told from this Dodgers team that just became World Series champions again.

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