Editorials

Dodgers: Walker Buehler is Officially the Ace of the Rotation

There’s no doubt that Walker Buehler has been the Dodgers postseason ace. Now, with Clayton Kershaw on the injured list and Trevor Bauer indefinitely sidelined, Buehler is unquestionably the regular season ace as well.

After a strong performance on Saturday at Coors Field (2 ER, 8 K, 7.0 IP), Buehler’s ERA stands at 2.37 for the year. Good for seventh best amongst MLB starters. He’s also sixth in WHIP (0.91). The 26-year-old is on track for the best season of his young career.



Buehler has evolved as a pitcher. He’s consistently going deeper into games by not attempting to strike every single hitter out. Buehler’s K/9 stands at a career “low” of 9.0.  The new approach has yielded positive results. He has yet to have a start shorter than five innings in 2021.

Future Hall-of-Famer Clayton Kershaw casts a long shadow. All parties involved would prefer to have the great southpaw healthy, but his absence provides an opportunity for Buehler to helm the rotation. After Sunday, the Dodgers are one game back of the Giants. They will face their arch-rivals seven times in the next ten games.

Presumably, Buehler will get not one, but two, shots at the San Francisco Giants in the next week and a half. Buehler is slated to go toe-to-toe against the Giants Anthony DeSclafani on Thursday at Dodger Stadium. It is also likely that Buehler will get either the following Tuesday or Wednesday start in San Francisco.

He has a golden opportunity to help vault the Dodgers into the division lead for the first time in a long time. Since April 28th to be exact.

The next two weeks could shape the next two months for the Dodgers and their bid to defend their title.

Whenever the stakes are high, Buehler has risen to the occasion.

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Eric Eulau

Born and raised in Ventura, not "Ven-CH-ura", California. Favorite Dodger Stadium food is the old school chocolate malt with the wooden spoon. Host of the Dodgers Nation 3 Up, 3 Down Podcast.

2 Comments

  1. He doesn’t look like an ace sure he has 6 wins but 3 against minor league teams the diamondbacks his era is 3.20 after he got vanged up by Phillies roberts didn’t make it happen fir him to get revenge Julio also allowed 5 vs Phillies but did pitched and dominated Phillies on rematch. Julio has era at 2.49 even though Roberts keeps making stupid moves so Buhler looks better like taking Julio out after 5 without allowing a run and only 60 pitches then later leaving him to pitch the 7th even though Julio had battle to keep rival at 1 run but had already 87 pitches so letting him pitch after that doesn’t make sense and of course Julio allowed more runs. Just pay attention the way he handles Julio and the way he handles Buhler . Same like last year he would take Julio out when he was dominating with only 70 pitches and could have easily pitch and extra inning or two that would have brought his era lower and Julio could have won the Cy Young but Roberts wanted fir buhler to win it and didn’t happen Roberts and Friedman owe Julio a fair shot he’s the one that closed out Braves and rays to help dodgers win the World Series stop making dumb excuses. And no Buhler is not the ace as long as Kersh still pitches for Dodgers still remember vs rays in World Series roberts didn’t use Buhler cause he only had 3 days rest but did use Julio with only 2 days rest and Julio delivered. That’s what an ace does

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