clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Walker Buehler joins small Dodgers draft group with first MLB start

MLB: Spring Training-Los Angeles Dodgers at Arizona Diamondbacks Rick Scuteri-USA TODAY Sports

Walker Buehler makes his first major league start in the Dodgers’ series opener against the Marlins on Monday night at Dodger Stadium.

Buehler faces a terrible Marlins team that comes in with four straight losses, seven losses in their last eight games, and a 5-16 record. With 69 runs scored in 21 games, Miami ranks 27th in MLB at 3.29 runs per game. The Marlins have scored two or fewer runs in almost half (10) of their games.

This, possibly followed by a Saturday start against the Giants (3.14 runs/game, 29th in MLB), make this week a perfect time for Buehler — the club’s first-round pick in 2015 and their top prospect heading into 2018 — to make his first major league start(s).

With his brief stint in the Dodgers bullpen last September, Buehler already has major league experience. But Monday is his first start. Just by making the start Buehler is already setting himself apart in the universe of pitchers drafted in the first round by the Dodgers.

In the last 40 years the Dodgers have drafted and signed 27 different pitchers in the first round of the MLB draft (Luke Hochevar and Kyle Funkhouser, who were drafted but didn’t sign, don’t count). A little fewer than half (13) made the majors, and Buehler will be just the eighth to even make a major league start, and the fifth to make a start with the Dodgers.

Here is the full list of first-round Dodgers pitchers in the last 40 years, beginning with Steve Howe and Steve Perry in 1979. It has been quite a journey.

Dodgers pitchers drafted and signed in the first round, 1978-2017

Year Pitcher MLB starts MLB innings 1st start w/Dodgers?
Year Pitcher MLB starts MLB innings 1st start w/Dodgers?
1979 Steve Howe 0 606 no
1979 Steve Perry 0 0 no
1983 Erik Sonberg 0 0 no
1984 Dennis Livingston 0 0 no
1987 Dan Opperman 0 0 no
1988 Bill Bene 0 0 no
1989 Kiki Jones 0 0 no
1989 Jamie McAndrew 8 55⅔ no
1990 Ronnie Walden 0 0 no
1993 Darren Dreifort 113 872⅔ yes
1995 David Yocum 0 0 no
2000 Ben Diggins 5 24 no
2002 Greg Miller 0 0 no
2003 Chad Billingsley 197 1,212⅓ yes
2004 Scott Elbert 0 96⅔ no
2004 Justin Orenduff 0 0 no
2006 Clayton Kershaw 295 1,968 yes
2006 Bryan Morris 0 236 no
2007 Chris Withrow 0 93⅔ no
2007 James Adkins 0 0 no
2008 Ethan Martin 8 44 no
2009 Aaron Miller 0 0 no
2010 Zach Lee 2 12⅔ yes
2011 Chris Reed 0 4 no
2013 Chris Anderson 0 0 no
2014 Grant Holmes 0 0 no
2015 Walker Buehler 0 9⅓ yes

Game info

Time: 7:10 p.m. PT

TV: SportsNet LA, MLB Network