Why the Dodgers have confidence in Walker Buehler vs. the Mets

Dodgers pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto, left, and Walker Buehler, watch from the dugout at Dodger Stadium.

Staff Writer

Published Oct. 14, 2024 Updated Oct. 15, 2024 4:34 PM PT

NEW YORK — The stuff and the results this season have not been vintage Walker Buehler, not after a second Tommy John surgery sapped him of some velocity and a pesky right-hip injury hindered the return of the erstwhile ace after a 23-month absence.

Yet the Dodgers have seen glimpses of the old Buehler in both performance and demeanor in recent weeks, the 30-year-old right-hander rediscovering some of the swagger that made him one of baseball’s best big-game pitchers from 2018 to 2021.

And now, after a bullpen game blew up in their face in Monday’s 7-3 loss to the New York Mets, evening the National League Championship Series at one game apiece, the Dodgers will turn to Buehler to prevent this best-of-seven series from going sideways on them in Game 3 Wednesday night.

“I don’t care what Walker’s numbers are — I will always bet on that guy in these types of situations,” third baseman Max Muncy said. “He’s the guy you want on the mound in a big situation. You just know that his heartbeat, when he gets out there, is not going to waver at all. I’ve seen him in multiple big games for us, and every time, he delivers.”

Buehler has a 3-4 record and 3.40 ERA in 16 career postseason starts, including seven shutout innings in Game 3 of the 2018 World Series against Boston, 11 innings of one-run ball in two 2020 NLCS starts against Atlanta, and six innings of one-run, three-hit ball with 10 strikeouts in a 2020 World Series Game 3 win over Tampa Bay.

He is not fazed by big-game pressure. He thrives on it.

“Every playoff game is huge,” Buehler said before Tuesday’s off-day workout in Citi Field. “Obviously, the East Coast-West Coast, L.A.-New York thing is pretty cool. I imagine it’s going to be rocking here [Wednesday night].

“That’s what excites me more than anything is the noise and the excitement. And the live-or-die feeling of every pitch is something I’ve really grown to love.”

Buehler went 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA during 16 regular-season starts in which he constantly tinkered with his mechanics and pitch mix in an effort to find a comfortable delivery and more effective sequences with which to attack hitters.

Buehler left the team for a few weeks in July while recovering from his hip injury to work out at a private sports facility in Florida. He gave up three earned runs and walked four in 3 ⅓ innings of a 5-4 loss at Milwaukee in his first start back on Aug.14.

But during a bullpen session the following weekend in St. Louis, pitching coaches Mark Prior and Connor McGuiness convinced Buehler to stop tinkering with his mechanics, settle on one delivery and focus more on throwing strike one.

Buehler found a groove in September and gave up only six earned runs and 13 hits, struck out 15 and walked seven in 16 ⅓ innings of his final three starts for a 3.31 ERA.

“I threw a bullpen in St. Louis that started to get everything really rolling,” Buehler said Tuesday. “Not that I’ve been setting the world on fire since then, but at least my body feels like it’s in the right position a lot of the time, and I kind of have an idea where the ball is headed.”

Buehler was not overpowering in his final regular-season start, inducing swinging strikes on three of 71 pitches in a 7-2 division-clinching win over San Diego on Sept. 26, but he seemed to will his way to victory by yielding one run and five hits in five innings.

His first playoff start did not go as well, Buehler giving up six runs and five hits in the second inning of a 6-5 loss in Game 3 of the NL Division Series at San Diego.

Dodgers pitcher Walker Buehler delivers during Game 3 of the NLDS against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.

The inning might have been different had first baseman Freddie Freeman’s throw to second on a fielder’s-choice grounder not hit Manny Machado in the helmet and caromed into left field, and had shortstop Miguel Rojas flipped to second on a Xander Bogaerts grounder instead of trying to turn an unassisted double play.

But Buehler did give up a two-run double to David Peralta and grooved an 0-and-2 fastball to Fernando Tatis Jr., who crushed a rally-capping two-run homer.

An angry Buehler rearranged some items in the Dodgers dugout after the inning, but he did not fold, blanking the Padres on two hits over the next three innings to preserve some bullpen arms and keep his team within striking distance.

Buehler will have a chance to redeem himself Wednesday night against an explosive Mets lineup in a hostile environment with temperatures expected to dip into the high-40s, the kind of chilly autumn weather he said he loves pitching in.

“The energy of the fans is something that all of us kind of live for in some way,” Buehler said. “Having done this playoff thing a few times, I think I’ve learned how to channel that and make it productive for yourself instead of detrimental.

“Each [playoff] game is its own kind of war. You’re out there trying to throw punches as long as you can and trying to keep the momentum.”