Savvy Dodger fans noticed two things about 26-year-old right-hander Walker Buehler‘s second Spring Training start on Sunday afternoon. First, he gave up two home runs during his three innings of work; that’s the easy part. The savvy part is that both came while the Lexington, KY native and Dodgers first-round draft pick in 2015 out of Vanderbilt University was pitching out of a stretch.

Granted, the first-inning blast that he gave up to Rangers third baseman Rougned Odor came with a runner on first base, when he was expected to pitch from a stretch. But the monster solo blast he gave up to Rangers right fielder Joey Gallo two batters earlier was also from the stretch position.

Following his three innings of work, Buehler told reporters (via Zoom) that he pitched from the stretch, even with no one on base, “…to get a feel for it.” He quickly added, however, “You don’t want to give up home runs, but I’m on schedule.”

That ‘schedule’ thing is important during Spring Training, when the outcome of the games are, as we are often told, ‘meaningless Spring Training games.’

“I think that we’re on schedule. I thought the ball was coming out good, the spin was much better that last inning,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “Early on, I thought the fastball was just not located, it was just off a tick, they took a couple good swings on him. But for where we’re at right now, I thought it was very positive.”

Ironically, the home run that Buehler allowed to Gallo came with two outs and Buehler ahead in the count 0-2, meaning that he was one strike away from getting out of the first inning unscathed … but oh well. The home run to Odor came on a 1-1 count.

But alas, it was just a ‘meaningless Spring Training game,’ … as we are often told.

Right.

Play Ball!

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