Dodgers two-time All-Star hurler has ‘most to prove’ down stretch

Peter Chawaga

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Dodgers two-time All-Star hurler has ‘most to prove’ down stretch image

There is a lot to like about the Los Angeles Dodgers as the Major League Baseball regular season wraps up.

They have the most wins of any team in baseball, a significant lead in the National League West division, and slugger Shohei Ohtani is the odds-on favorite to take home the National League Most Valuable Player Award.

But one area for concern, particularly as the team prepares for a deep playoff run, is in the starting rotation. Amid a slew of injuries and command struggles, the team has seen 16 different hurlers start at least one game.

And a new report from MLB.com has named one of those struggling starters — two-time All-Star Walker Buehler — as the single Dodger with the “most to prove down the stretch” while the team seeks to solidify its playoff rotation.

“Buehler’s season has been a disappointment up to this point, but the right-hander has a chance to change his fortunes around with a couple of good starts to end the year,” MLB.com’s Juan Toribio wrote. “If Buehler performs better — and his last two outings have been solid — he’ll have a role on the postseason staff. If he doesn’t, the Dodgers will have to carry on without him.”

Buehler, 30, has had several impressive campaigns for the Dodgers. In 2021, he started an MLB-leading 33 games and led the majors with a 171 ERA+ en route to a fourth-place National League Cy Young Award finish. 

But he missed all of the 2023 season after undergoing a second Tommy John surgery and has struggled to return to form this season. He has a 5.67 ERA across 12 starts so far this year and the pressure is on for him to build on some recent success and contribute to a hopeful Dodgers World Series run. For his part, Buehler acknowledged that he has something to prove in this final stretch of the regular season.

“I have a month to kind of more so put the finishing touches on how I feel as a major-league starter and how I can help us win in the playoffs,” the pitcher told The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.

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Peter Chawaga

Peter Chawaga Photo

Peter Chawaga is a veteran journalist covering Major League Baseball for The Sporting News. His MLB reporting has included feature interviews with commissioner Rob Manfred and Hall of Fame slugger David Ortiz, salary analysis, player rankings and more. He has covered baseball for Forbes, Yardbarker, Pitcher List, Athlon and other outlets.

With over ten years of newsroom experience, he has previously covered finance, technology, arts, and culture for newspapers, magazines, and websites nationwide. He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in English and journalism.