4 years agoLos Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Walker Buehler told MLB.com's Juan Toribio earlier this week that he believes the struggles he has had with his fastball this spring are temporary, and that it shouldn't affect him much heading into the regular season. Toribio reports that Buehler's fastball has been sitting around 93-94 mph through most of the spring, after posting an average velocity of 96.8 mph in 2020. "I felt good about it my last outing against the White Sox," Buehler said. "You kind of hope and believe that the adrenaline of the season, it'll kind of jump up a little bit. I feel OK about it. I don't feel ecstatic about it." Buehler struggled in his last outing on Tuesday, allowing nine runs on 10 hits and a walk in five innings against the Brewers, as he pushed his spring ERA to 7.94 over 17 innings of work. He has still managed to maintain a solid 20.5 percent strikeout rate this spring, although it is lower than his career 28.6 percent mark. Buehler should still continue to be targeted around his current 21 ADP, but managers should keep a close eye on how he performs early on in the season.--Michael Grennell - RotoBaller
Source: Juan Toribio