Walker Buehler's postseason reemergence could create free agency conflict for Dodgers

Walker Buehler definitely has a lot on his mind right now. Not only is he trying to help his team to a World Series championship after a regular season filled with setbacks and poor performance, but he's also fighting for his future in the game. Buehler is barreling toward free agency, and up until his NLCS Game 3 performance, a future away from the Dodgers seemed pretty much set in stone.

The Dodgers love Buehler; how could they not love a former first-round draft pick who seemed so otherworldly back in 2021? But his prolonged absence, his butting of heads with the Dodgers' brass about his return, and his 5.38 ERA in the regular season after a second trip to the IL all pointed to the Dodgers needing to part ways with him, especially with the 2025 rotation already looking crowded.

However, Buehler's performance in the LCS was exactly what the Dodgers needed from him, and it will almost certainly make their decision-making about whether or not to keep him tougher than it was before. All of a sudden, that '25 rotation isn't so crowded, either, with Gavin Stone gone and so many other cloudy injury returns involved.

Buehler pitched four shutout innings, giving up only three hits and two walks in Game 3 at Citi Field. He also struck out six, and his 18 whiffs were the most through four innings of a postseason game since 2003.

Walker Buehler made Dodgers' offseason decisions a lot harder with his NLCS Game 3 outing

It'd be hyperbolic to say that Buehler's showing saved his future with the Dodgers. He was fantastic at exactly the right time, but there's still the entirety of his regular season to take into account when the Dodgers are thinking about whether or not to ask him to come back. Some of those regular season performances were objectively awful, and that won't just magically disappear because he came through in Game 3.

A long contract in free agency still doesn't seem to be in the cards for him, but he'll probably make the Dodgers think a little harder about extending a probationary one-year deal when their postseason run comes to an end one way or the other.

Without Buehler, the 2025 rotation would go roughly as followed: Tyler Glasnow, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Shohei Ohtani, Tony Gonsolin, and Clayton Kershaw. The Dodgers would probably want a sixth starter in the mix, given that many of these starters would be coming back from injury and would benefit from an extra day of rest, but it could be time for Emmet Sheehan to finally get a real shot at a full season of pitching. However, Sheehan will also be coming off of a major surgery, so they could put him in the bullpen and invite Buehler back.

If the Dodgers advance to the World Series, we'll see Buehler on the mound at least one more time, which could make or break his Dodgers future. At this point, he's at least giving the Dodgers a lot more to think about.