Buehler's early debut a welcome change

SCOTTDALE, Ariz. -- Walker Buehler made his Spring Training debut on Tuesday in the Dodgers’ 1-1 tie against the Giants, and the right-hander picked up right where he left off last season.

Buehler needed just 24 pitches to pitch two scoreless innings. The right-hander’s fastball velocity was sitting at 93 mph per the stadium radar gun. It averaged 96.8 mph last season. The decreased velocity is usually a product of a pitcher going through his first start of the spring.

“It was fine,” Buehler said of his outing. “The stuff isn’t quite where I want it to be early in the year, but it’s good to be out there, and be out there early in spring for once.”

The most impressive sequence for Buehler came in the second inning. He ended a six-pitch at-bat against Darin Ruf with a nasty hook, getting the Giants’ first baseman to strike out swinging.

“Walker was good,” said Dodgers manager Dave Roberts. “I think that he would like the ball to come out a little bit better, but I thought he was good. The fastball command was fine. The breaking ball had some teeth when it needed to.”

While the results of Tuesday’s outing were positive, the good sign for the Dodgers is the fact that Buehler is on the mound this early in spring. Buehler has gone through a pair of unusual Spring Training buildups over the last few seasons. He has been bothered with some soreness in the past and the Dodgers took it slow with one of their top young pitchers.

In 2019, Buehler made just one spring appearance before his first outing of the regular season. His numbers suffered, as he allowed three or more runs in four of his first six starts.

This year, Buehler came into spring fully healthy and has been throwing bullpen sessions and live batting practice in the backfield. In his last BP, Buehler and Mookie Betts had three solid battles. Buehler won one, striking out Betts looking. Betts returned the favor in the next at-bat, hitting a homer over the left-field fence.

Buehler is tentatively scheduled to pitch three innings and throw 45 pitches in his next outing.

“Obviously, my past Spring Trainings have been a little different than we kind of would’ve liked to draw them up,” Buehler said. “I’m out there and that’s the biggest thing, and just get ready in a better way for our team and for me. I wasn’t expecting to throw a million [pitches] tonight, but I felt good with it.”

With Buehler, Clayton Kershaw and Trevor Bauer, the Dodgers have one of the best pitching trios in the big leagues.

May lights up radar gun
Dustin May is competing with Tony Gonsolin and Julio Urías for the fifth spot in the Dodgers’ loaded rotation. The right-hander made sure to make his case on Tuesday, with a little help from the radar gun.

May’s first two pitches of the night were both 99 mph four-seamers. He then geared up some more, hitting 100 mph on his next two pitches. But perhaps most impressively was that he finished off the at-bat with an 88 mph curveball, freezing Marco Luciano.

“At this point of the year, I have to go out and do everything that I can. I’m fighting for a spot and we have seven guys to fill five roles,” May said earlier this spring. “I have to go out and do everything that I can to get one of them. That’s my goal, to be on the Opening Day roster as a starter.”

One area May needs to improve is getting more swings-and-misses from opposing hitters. His whiff rate finished in the 7th percentile last season, which is unusual from a pitcher that touches triple digits. If May doesn’t crack the rotation on Opening Day, the Dodgers would likely keep May as a multi-inning reliever as opposed to sending him down to the alternate training site for the first month of the season.

“I think those guys have all shown what they can do at the Major League level,” Roberts said, when asked if Urías, Gonsolin and May could all be on the Opening Day roster despite the limited spots. “That’s certainly a possibility.”

Quick hits
• Kershaw threw a bullpen session at Camelback Ranch on Tuesday. Kershaw will throw again in three days, but Roberts is still unsure if that will come in a live BP setting or in his first Cactus League outing of the spring.

• Joe Kelly also threw a bullpen session on Tuesday. The right-hander has not yet thrown to hitters, as he was sidelined with shoulder soreness earlier in camp. Kelly will resume his throwing program and the Dodgers hope he can throw to hitters within the next week.

• Urías will get his first start of the spring on Wednesday against the Reds at Camelback Ranch, with first pitch at 5:05 p.m. PT. Watch the game on MLB.TV or MLB Network.