Roger Arrieta
Dave Roberts announced that Walker Buehler would be the Dodgers Opening Day starter in Colorado on the 8th, the first Opening Day start of his career. Clayton Kershaw has been the Opening Day starter 9 of the last 11 years, with Hyun Jin Ryu and Dustin May getting nods in 2019 and 2020. Kershaw got the start last year, but is this finally the changing of the guard in the Dodgers rotation?
To be quite frank, there has been no doubt in my mind that for at least the last few years, Buehler has taken the throne from Kershaw as the Dodgers’ ace. Since he was brought up 5 years ago he’s 40-13 with a 2.90 ERA and a 9.9 Ks per 9. Last year being his strongest year, with a 16-4 record, 2.47 ERA, with 212 punch outs and only 52 walks. But it truly is his postseason work that has stolen the headlines.
Buehler has a career postseason ERA of 2.94, with an 11.4 Ks per 9. Now while Kershaw has very much improved his postseason play in the last few years, Buehler has been that dude in the postseason since he came up.
Walker’s passion on the mound is something that can’t go understated. He show’s so much emotion and truly loves being here.
We all knew Kershaw wasn’t going to be the Opening Day starter, but here we are now, with Walker Buehler, who looks like he could wind up maybe even better than Kershaw if he keeps pitching at the level he has been since 2017. Here’s to hoping he pitches in Dodger blue for his entire career.
