Dodger fans who also follow their favorite team’s minor league affiliates are very well aware that opening day for those affiliates occurred roughly one week after opening day for the major league club.

Add to that the fact that Mother Nature has played absolute havoc with baseball during the first month – both majors and minors – and you can understand why starting pitchers on every level within the Dodgers organization have had an etched-in-stone 75-pitch limit for their starting pitchers at every level during the past month. And while this hard number will begin to loosen with each passing week of the young 2018 season, it’s probably safe to say that we won’t be seeing any 100-pitch outings from any Dodgers minor league starters anytime soon.

Enter Walker Buehler who, on Sunday afternoon, was officially called up to the Dodgers and is scheduled to make his first major league start on Monday evening against the Miami Marlins in place of Dodgers left-hander Rich Hill, who remains on the 10-day disabled (retroactive to April 15) for an inflamed third finger on his left (pitching) hand; a condition which was later described as “a cracked fingernail.”

The plan is for Buehler to start Monday night’s three-game series opener against the NL East last place Miami Marlins (5-16) at Dodger Stadium. And even though the Dodgers have not yet said whether or not this will be the only start for their 23-year-old top-ranked prospect, it is being widely speculated that Buehler, who was selected by the Dodgers in the first round of the 2015 MLB First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University, will remain with the team for the weekend series against the San Francisco Giants at AT&T Park that will include a doubleheader on Saturday, April 23 as a result of an April 6 rain out.

Suffice to say, Buehler proved that he is MLB-ready after a spring training that saw him allow no runs and only one hit, while striking out seven and walking one during his combined 4.0 innings of work with the Dodgers.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Even though Rich Hill has repeatedly told reporters that he will be ready to come off the disabled list when his 10 days are up on Wednesday, April 25, his less-than-stellar 1-1 record and 6.00 ERA may be cause enough for the Dodgers to be extra careful (if you get my drift) about rushing the 38-year-old soft-tossing lefty back into action when they have the 98-MPH(ish) hard-throwing Buehler already here from Triple-A Oklahoma City and a doubleheader on tap for Saturday.

That being said, MLB rules allow for teams to carry a 26th man on their 25-man roster for doubleheaders caused by postponements. As such, the Dodgers could – and probably will – activate Hill from the DL, but cannot do so (and keep Buehler up) before Saturday’s doubleheader.

Getting back to this pitch-limit thing, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Sunday afternoon that their plan (and hope) is for Buehler to go six innings and / or 90 pitches in his major league starting debut on Monday. This, of course, will be entirely incumbent upon how the game plays out.

Keep in mind that Buehler has yet to go longer than five innings or make more than 80 pitches in a game this season. In fact, during his three starts thus far at OKC, he went four innings, five innings, and four innings, and made 72, 73, and 80 pitches respectively.

That’s the bad news. The good news is that Buehler is currently 1-0 on the young season with the OKC Dodgers with an outstanding 2.08 ERA. He also struck out 16 of the 54 batters he has faced this season while walking only four. Additionally, he has yet to give up a home run in his combined 13.0 innings pitched, while holding opposing hitters to a minuscule .204 batting average against and has a ridiculous 1.08 WHIP.

What does Buehler think about the pitch and inning restrictions placed on him during his combined 23 minor league starts since returning from Tommy John surgery shortly after being drafted by the Dodgers?

“I’ve wanted to stretch out since June of last year,” said Buehler. “It is what it is. I get why they do those things. But it’s hard when there are scores on the scoreboard, and you want to keep going.”

Good or bad, long or short, it’s impossible not to be excited about Buehler’s MLB starting debut on Monday evening, even though he made his MLB debut out of the Dodgers bullpen last last season. I mean, how can you not be excited about a guy who routinely hits 98 on the radar gun, right?

Buehler consistently hit 98-MPH with his fastball this past spring in his two appearances with the big league club.
(Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Go Walker!

Go Dodgers!