Walker Buehler isn’t right.
That’s not stopping the Dodgers from giving him the ball in Game 3 of the National League Championship Series on Wednesday in Queens.
The 30-year-old right-hander posted a 5.38 ERA over 16 outings in 2024 after missing all of last season while he recovered from Tommy John Surgery.
His first postseason outing earlier this month went even worse, allowing six earned runs and seven hits, including a home run off the bat of Fernando Tatis Jr., which was correctly predicted by yours truly.
Buehler has had problems with the long ball all season, allowing 1.91 home runs per nine innings, which was the eighth-highest in baseball among pitchers with at least 70 innings pitched.
And he’s got yet another nightmare matchup Wednesday with a certain Mets slugger.
Like Tatis, Pete Alonso has crushed Buehler over the years.
In 14 career plate appearances, Alonso has hit four home runs.
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Only Patrick Corbin and Aaron Nola – who have faced him more than three times as much – have allowed more home runs to Alonso.
Like many big power hitters, Alonso feasts on fastballs, slugging .633 against four-seamers and tallying 23 homers against fastballs of all kinds in 2024.
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That’s the exact pitch Buehler has struggled with since returning from injury, going from having one of the best four-seamers in the big leagues in terms of Run Value from 2018-21 (+59) to one of the worst in limited time this season (-8).
While he was quiet through the first two games of the NLCS, Alonso has flashed his usual power numbers during the Mets’ postseason run, hitting four homers in 12 games.
The play: Pete Alonso to hit a home run (+390, FanDuel Sportsbook)
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Dylan Svoboda is a versatile writer and analyst across many sports. He’s particularly knowledgeable about the big three – MLB, the NFL and the NBA.
