A look at the Dodgers’ starting rotation for the next three games

With yesterday’s loss, the World Series will go at least five games. Following the game, Dave Roberts announced who will be starting the next three games for the Dodgers. It’ll go Walker Buehler, Julio Urias and Clayton Kershaw.

We already knew Buehler would get the start in Game 3 and had a strong assumption it would then go Urias and Kershaw, but having this already confirmed is great news.

Game 2 was going to be a bullpen game no matter what for the Dodgers, we all knew that. The Rays would be starting Blake Snell, a former Cy Young winner. A win would have been great for the Dodgers, but it was going to be a difficult matchup. Now, the Dodgers are in a situation they could not have drawn up better.

This series has turned into a five-game series, with the Dodgers arguably having the advantage through the next three games. Having Buehler, Urias and Kershaw going your next three games is huge for LA, and gives them a solid chance to close out this series, or at least go up 3-2 entering Game 6.

Let’s take a look at the projected three starters and how they’ve done so far in October.

Walker Buehler

Had it not been for the schedule of games, this is who likely would have gotten the start in Game 1 for the Dodgers. Instead, Buehler has been pushed back to Game 3. Fine with me. Is there anyone out there you’d rather start for you in the third game of the World Series?

To no surprise, Buehler has been lights out for the Dodgers this postseason. He’s made four starts so far, with LA going 3-1 in his outings. His ERA is 1.89 and he’s struck out 29 batters in only 19 innings of work. His most recent outing came in Game 6 of the NLCS, where he threw six scoreless innings against the Atlanta Braves. Buehler struck out six and issued zero walks.

This will be his second career World Series start, and it seems pretty difficult to top his first. Buehler made his World Series debut in Game 3 in 2018 against the Red Sox. How’d he do? Seven scoreless innings. Seven strikeouts. No walks. Two hits.

Yeah, safe to say, this is exactly who the Dodgers want on the mound tomorrow.

Julio Urias

I just talked about having the guy you want on the mound for Game 3. How about LA’s best pitcher this postseason in Game 4? Julio Urias has been by far the best pitcher for the Dodgers throughout October. He’s appeared in four games, throwing 16 total innings and allowing only one run. He’s also struck out 16 and issued only three walks.

In his four outings this postseason, Urias has thrown three innings twice and five innings twice. His last appearance came in Game 7 of the NLCS, where he threw three scoreless innings to close the game out and send the Dodgers to the World Series.

This will be the fourth World Series game Urias has pitched in, as he came out of the bullpen in the first three games of the 2018 World Series. In those three games, Urias didn’t allow a run and allowed only one base hit.

Clayton Kershaw

Okay, so you have the guy you want on the mound in Game 3, the best pitcher in October in Game 4.... and Clayton Kershaw in Game 5? Wow, the Dodgers really have set themselves up nicely.

Kershaw gets another crack at a World Series start, and is coming off of one of the better postseason starts of his entire career. He threw six innings one one-run ball while allowing two hits in Game 1 of this series. Kershaw struck out eight and didn’t issue a walk.

I could go on and on about Kershaw and how good he’s been in October recently, but you already know that. He’s going to be hungry for his next start, and there’s a strong chance he could be pitching with a chance to win the World Series for the Dodgers.