Walker Buehler
Walker Anthony Buehler is an American professional baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball. He was selected by the Dodgers 24th overall in the 2015 MLB draft out of Vanderbilt University, and made his MLB debut in 2017.
Amateur career
Buehler attended Henry Clay High School in Lexington, Kentucky. 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. 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 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. 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.After the 2014 season Buehler played for Team USA and the Yarmouth-Dennis Red Sox of the Cape Cod Baseball League. He posted a 0.63 earned run average with 24 strikeouts over 28.2 innings pitched for the Red Sox, 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, leading the Red Sox to the league championship.
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.
Professional career
Minor leagues
Buehler was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers with the 24th overall selection of the 2015 Major League Baseball draft and signed on July 17, 2015, for a $1.78 million bonus. 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. 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. He was then promoted to the Great Lakes Loons of the Midwest League on August 28. 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.Buehler began the 2017 season with the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes of the California League and allowed only three runs in 16 innings over five starts before he was promoted to the Double-A Tulsa Drillers of the Texas League on May 2. 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. He was promoted to the Triple-A Oklahoma City Dodgers at mid-season where he made three starts before transitioning to the bullpen in preparation for a potential September major league callup. He had a 4.63 ERA in 23 innings for Oklahoma City. At the end of the season, he was selected as the Dodgers minor league pitcher of the year.
2017 season
The Dodgers added him to the major league roster for the first time on September 6, 2017 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. He picked up his first major league win with a scoreless inning of relief against the Philadelphia Phillies on September 21. Overall, he appeared in eight games for the Dodgers in 2017, allowing eight runs in 9 innings with 12 strikeouts and eight walks.2018 season
Buehler made his first major league start on April 23, 2018, against the Miami Marlins, pitching five scoreless innings. 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. He was placed on the disabled list on June 21 because of a rib injury. 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.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. He set a new career high in strikeouts with nine on August 22. After three more nine strikeout starts, he struck out 12 on September 19 against the Colorado Rockies.
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. In 24 appearances for the Dodgers in 2018, Buehler was 8–5 with a 2.62 ERA and 151 strikeouts. 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.
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. 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. 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 with multiple games with 15 strikeouts and no walks in the same season. 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.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.