Dodgers: Chronicling Walker Buehler’s 20th Start vs. Cardinals

Dodgers Nation will be following Walker Buehler’s starts as he seeks to be the next elite Dodgers pitcher. The Dodgers have a history of dominant players on the mound from Sandy Koufax to Don Drysdale to Clayton Kershaw. As a former first-round pick and a highly touted prospect, Buehler looks to be the next big thing in Los Angeles. All we can do is relax and enjoy the show.

September 8, 2018

Season statistics coming into the game: (6-5, 3.09 ERA)

Season statistics after the game: (7-5, 2.88 ERA)

The Opponent: St. Louis Cardinals

Stadium: Busch Stadium

Days of Rest: 5

Catcher: Yasmani Grandal

Game Results

Innings Pitched: 8

Earned Runs: 0

Hits: 2

Home Runs: 0

Strikeouts: 9

Walks: 2

Pitch Count: 105

Batters Faced: 28

MLB.com Game Score: 89

History

Walker Buehler entered Friday, having played the Cardinals earlier this year. He pitched seven shutout innings against them at Dodger Stadium in a pitchers duel against Jack Flaherty. Buehler set a career high with nine strikeouts in that start. He would match up with Flaherty again in St. Louis.

Performance

Walker Buehler produced, arguably, best game of his career with his performance at Busch Stadium. Over eight innings, his only baserunners came off two single and two walks. He matched a career high with eight innings, nine strikeouts and a game score of 89.

The Highs

The most impressive part of Buehler’s game this season has been his ability to keep runners off base. He continued this trend again with just four players reaching base.

https://twitter.com/DodgerInsider/status/1040795474498748417

As his innings are raking up, Buehler’s production is increasing with a 1.75 ERA since the All-Star break.

The Lows

The lows for Buehler were few and far between on Friday. He showed signs of fatigue in the eighth inning when he walked two and threw 24 pitches. Prior to that inning, Buehler had not surrendered a base on balls.

Analysis

Buehler’s win not only pushed the Dodgers an inch closer to first place in the NL West, it put them into the second wild card spot. In his first full season, Buehler has shown poise against contending teams and has not expressed signs of fatigue late in the year.

The one caveat for Buehler would be for his next start. He threw 105 pitches against the Cardinals. In games following a 100-pitch performance, Buehler has an ERA of 3.80.