Los Angeles Dodgers: Predicting the Dodgers’ 2020 all-stars
By Jason Reed
3. Walker Buehler, second appearance
Walker Buehler is the third member of the Dodgers’ Killer Bs alongside Cody Bellinger and Mookie Betts. Just like Betts, an all-star appearance seems like a near-guarantee for Buehler as he has the stuff to be one of the best pitchers in baseball with the only thing that could slow him doing being injury.
Buehler took a huge step towards being that elite pitcher that we all know he can be in 2019. While his season ERA was worse than the year before, he put in an entire season’s worth of work and then absolutely dominated in the postseason, showing that he is ready to be in the running for the Cy Young award.
The one Achilles’ Heel with Buehler last season is that he was still prone to the blowup start, which is common among young pitchers without a lot of experience. Buehler was absolutely dominant in games that he won, sporting a 1.94 ERA, 0.809 WHIP and 10.75 strikeouts per walk.
In games he lost, though, he wasn’t just slightly worse, he was bad. Buehler sported a 5.91 ERA, 1.594 WHIP and 2.67 strikeouts per walk in games he lost.
Of course, the numbers are going to be worse in games a pitcher loses but Buehler’s was exponentially worse, which was a result of those blowup starts. With another year under his belt, those starts will start becoming rarer and Buehler will be a lock for the All-Star Game.