The Los Angeles Dodgers will turn to Walker Buehler, not Clayton Kershaw, to start their playoff opener.
The team announced Wednesday that Buehler will get the nod ahead of Kershaw and Hyun-Jin Ryu for Game 1 Thursday against the Washington Nationals.
Walker Buehler will start Game 1 of the NLDS against the Nationals tomorrow.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) October 2, 2019
Of the Dodgers’ big three starters, Buehler actually had the highest ERA at 3.26. However, he had the most strikeouts of the three, with 215. He also ranked the best in terms of the advanced metric of Fielding Independent Pitching, or FIP.
The Dodgers did not announce starters for Games 2 or 3 yet, though they’ll be Ryu and Kershaw in some order. Ryu posted a 2.32 ERA, but he and Kershaw are both left-handers, and the Nationals have an .828 team OPS against left-handed pitching in 2019.
The Nationals have already set their Game 1 starter as of Wednesday.
