Roberts Risky Move: How a New Strategy Unlocked Buehler’s Potential
The Los Angeles Dodgers relied on every bit of their roster to win the eighth World Series in franchise history, and part of that was Walker Buehler delivering in key moments.
The 2024 season was Buehler’s first year back from a second career Tommy John surgery. The season entailed several bumps along the way and a hip injury that further complicated his quest to being a quality starting pitcher.
Buehler ultimately righted the ship when it mattered most and further cemented his pedigree as a big-game pitcher. Prior to reaching the mountaintop in October, the right-hander was the subject of a challenge issued by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts.
During his appearance on the “On Base with Mookie Betts” podcast, Roberts detailed making a conscious decision to publicly challenge a player for the first time during his managerial career:
“I just felt the air come out of the room. So we ended up losing that night and I contemplated, and I felt that was the time for us to have a meeting. I needed to get the guys together and say we have enough. And I will tell you this, it was premeditated in the sense that Walker wasn’t Walker at that time, and I wanted to challenge him.
“I called him out in front of everybody. But I knew I had already been with him for seven years, that we had that relationship that I could do that and he would take it as respect in knowing what I thought he could do. We needed Walker to be Walker right then to give us a chance to win the World Series. He was pitching that night. We need you to get on a heater right now. I’ve never done that.
“But he and I have that relationship where I needed him to hear it from me in front of his teammates. He is one person I felt could rise to that challenge.”
The team meeting in which Roberts implored Buehler to rise to the occasion took place when the Dodgers were playing the Atlanta Braves on the road in the middle of September.
The Dodgers had lost the first two games at Truist Park and Buehler was poised to start for a “Sunday Night Baseball” broadcast on ESPN. He turned in six innings and held the Braves to just two runs (one earned) to help the Dodgers get a win en route to an eventual series split.
Teoscar Hernández and others have pointed to that team meeting as a key turning point for the Dodgers, as Roberts held it in the wake of learning Tyler Glasnow was going to be out through the playoffs.
Walker Buehler’s postseason stats
Buehler has pitched in 19 games (18 starts) during a postseason career that spans playing October baseball across five years. The right-hander is a career 4-4 with one save, a 3.04 ERA, 3.21 FIP and has 114 strikeouts in 94.2 innings pitched during that span.
Buehler has been even more dominant in the World Series, going 2-0 with one save, a 0.47 ERA, 0.53 WHIP and 24 strikeouts in 19 innings over four games (three starts).
