The Dodgers on Monday afternoon recalled right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler from Triple-A Oklahoma City, as he will make his 2018 debut and his first career Major League start against the Marlins. To create room on the active roster, the club designated right-handed pitcher Wilmer Font for assignment.
Buehler will wear uniform No. 21.
At the start of the 2018 season, Buehler was rated as the Dodgers No. 1 prospect by MLB.com and Baseball America, while also ranking the 13th best overall prospect on Baseball America’s Top 100. In three starts with the Oklahoma City Dodgers this season, he has gone 1-0 with a 2.08 ERA—3 ER/13.0 IP—and has held the opposition to a .204 average. The hard-throwing righty has also struck out 16 batters against just four walks, while posting a 1.08 WHIP. Buehler also appeared in his first big league camp this spring and appeared in two Cactus League games for the Dodgers, allowing just one hit over 4.0 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts against one walk.
The 23-year-old Kentucky native saw his first big league action last year, as he made his Major League debut with the Dodgers on September 7, 2017 against the Rockies. In eight relief appearances with Los Angeles, Buehler went 1-0 with a 7.71 ERA and struck out 12 in 9.1 innings. He was selected as the 2017 Dodgers Branch Rickey Minor League Pitcher of the Year after going 3-3 with one save and posting a 3.35 ERA in 28 combined games, 19 of which were starts, with Single-A Rancho Cucamonga, Double-A Tulsa and Triple-A OKC.
Over three minor league seasons, Buehler has gone 5-3 with a 3.04 ERA and has collected one save in 34 career games—23 starts—while striking out 147 batters against just 38 walks in 106.2 career minor league innings. The Lexington, Kentucky, native was drafted by Los Angeles in the first round (24th overall) of the 2015 First-Year Player Draft out of Vanderbilt University.
Font appeared in six games with Los Angeles this season and went 0-2 with a 11.32 ERA—13 ER/10.1 IP—while striking out seven against one walk.
Monday’s lineup vs. Miami Marlins:
- Taylor CF
- Hernández SS
- Kemp LF
- Bellinger 1B
- Grandal C
- Puig RF
- Barnes 2B
- Farmer 3B
- Buehler P