Walker Buehler has been a Cy Young contender and an All-Star during his career, but the Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher is now pitching for his job in the team’s rotation. That is obviously not how he envisioned going into free agency.
Buehler struggled again on Tuesday against the Seattle Mariners, allowing three runs on seven hits in four innings of work. He received a no-decision when the Dodgers came back to win, but it was another discouraging performance against a bad offense, and it bumped his ERA to 6.09 on the season in 10 starts.
The former All-Star acknowledged after the game that he is essentially pitching for his job at this point. He was also brutally dismissive about his upcoming free agency, as he essentially said that is something he gets to worry about if he is actually performing.
“There’s just not a whole lot to talk about,” Buehler said, via Dylan Hernandez of the Los Angeles Times. “I have a six ERA. I’m trying to figure out how to get people out in the major leagues. Free agency is for talking about when you have a two-five and you’re rolling through the league. I really don’t care. To be honest, I’ve played here my whole career. I love playing here. We’ve won a World Series here.”
Buehler missed the first part of the season as he continued his recovery from Tommy John surgery. At that point, the Dodgers wanted to keep him fresh for a playoff run. Now, it is not even clear if Buehler would be a part of that playoff run based on how he is performing.
Buehler is still only 30, and his career is by no means over. He might not offer the Dodgers much this year, though.
