The Dodgers have called up yet another top prospect.
Walker Buehler, after tons of speculation, has finally been called up. According to MLB Pipeline, he is the Dodgers‘ number one prospect and number 13 overall in all of baseball. He also has flat-out electric stuff, so it is easy to see why fans are excited.
He has a fastball that sits in the mid-90s but can touch 99 and has two secondary pitches in the curveball and slider that should become wipeout pitches. Add on a developing changeup, and you can clearly see the high ceiling.
He had a 3.35 ERA in 88.2 innings at Single-A, Double-A and Triple-A. While his ERA did rise at each level, his ability to miss bats at an elite rate followed him. He punched out 125 batters in his 88.2 innings of work.
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His 4.63 ERA at Oklahoma City may be a bit misleading because they were skewed by two bad outings. The first was his debut at AAA, and the other bad outing was his debut out of the bullpen later on. That and the Pacific Coast League is notorious for being hitter-friendly.
In his last 12 innings of work in Oklahoma City, Buehler allowed just two runs while striking out 17 batters.
His long term outlook is as a starter but he is expected to be helpful for a worn-out bullpen and hopefully, make such an impact where he could make the playoff roster.
Next: Vulnerabilities in the Playoffs
Brooke Smith recently wrote a preview on Buehler and expectations for him which you should definitely check out. What is for sure is to temper expectations because of his youth and the role he will be used in. What else is also true is that he has a great chance of being an upgrade in the pen because of his talent and relatively fresh arm.