NEW YORK — Walker Buehler has always been different. He possesses a slight frame but still hurls fastballs in the upper 90s. He plays in an era that rewards bland professionalism, but once acknowledged having, as he put it, a “Napoleon syndrome.”
At his core, the Dodgers’ starter is a competitor fueled by adrenaline, pressure and a bonafide challenge. So his sterling start in Game 3 of the World Series on Monday night at Yankee Stadium was not necessarily a surprise. And neither was his summation of his efforts, which featured a dose of refreshing honesty.
“I think, as kind of brutal as it is to say, it takes that adrenaline and stuff to kind of really get me going mentally,” Buehler said. “I wish I would have felt that all year. I could tell you I’m excited to pitch every single game I’ve ever gone out there, but there is something different in the playoffs.”
The difference on Monday happened to be Buehler, who allowed just two hits across five scoreless innings while striking out five. The performance helped the Dodgers defeat the Yankees 4-2 and take a 3-0 series lead. They can clinch the World Series championship on Tuesday night in the Bronx.
At 30 years old, Buehler may not have found the old juice in the regular season. But he’s been right at home in October.
“Just the confidence,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “When he’s on the mound in the postseason, there hasn’t been many better.”
On Monday, Buehler, according to OptaSTATS, became the first pitcher in postseason history to make three World Series starts of at least five innings while allowing five or fewer base runners in all three. His first World Series start came in 2018 as a rookie, and his second came in 2020, when the Dodgers claimed their first championship since 1988 in a COVID-shortened season. The Dodgers did not get to celebrate with the parade in Los Angeles. But it did seem like another ace had arrived.
It didn’t quite turn out like that.
Buehler lived up to the billing in 2021, logging a 2.47 ERA in 33 starts. But he blew out his elbow again in 2022 and underwent his second Tommy John surgery. He did not pitch again until May. He allowed six earned runs in 7 1/3 innings in his first two starts. He logged a 5.38 ERA in the regular season. Before October, he recorded just one scoreless start — six innings against the Reds in May — all season. And it wasn’t like he showed significant signs of progress in September. As he neared free agency for the first time, he had a 4.44 ERA across five starts.
But the thing about September is the lights generally offer the same level of brightness. There is pressure, but it’s the typical kind. There’s nothing inherently special about those starts, and Buehler, above all, demands pressure.
“At least long term for me, to get through the playoffs in the way that I have, it’s really encouraging for me personally because I know it’s in there, and I’ve just got to unlock it a little bit,” Buehler said. “But that feeling of there’s an organization relying on me today to win a playoff game, I think it’s kind of the weight that I like feeling and kind of gets me in a certain place mentally that it’s kind of hard to replicate.”
On Monday, his fastball had life. He worked ahead. He showcased his cutter. When Freddie Freeman blasted a two-run homer in the top of the first, the cushion allowed Buehler to attack the zone and stay ahead.
“I thought his stuff was as good as it’s been all year,” Roberts said. “I thought the fastball had life. The cutter was good. The curveball was good. He pitched all quadrants and kept those guys honest, kept them at bay. There was no stress. Just to get through five innings the way he threw the baseball, I felt that’s all he had.”
To Yankees manager Aaron Boone, it all felt like a continuation of Game 2, when the Dodgers’ Yoshinobu Yamamoto had pitched with a lead and done the same.
“Story of a few games in there,” he said.
The Dodgers’ decimated rotation was supposed to be a weak point. Instead, it’s one of the primary reasons they have a stranglehold on this series. Buehler was supposed to be a shell of his former dominant self.
On Monday, in what might have been his final start as a Dodger, he found it.
“He’s Walker,” Max Muncy said. “Didn’t expect anything different.”
(Top photo of Walker Buehler: Brad Penner / Imagn Images)
