It’s been almost one month since the 2024 World Series came to an end. Walker Buehler struck out Alex Verdugo to get the last out of the 2024 season and the Dodgers won the title. On the mound, Walker Buehler’s performance was super impressive. However, before the postseason started, there were actually some concerns about Walker Buehler because his performance wasn’t good during the regular season.
During the regular season, Walker Buehler made 16 starts for the Dodgers, posting a 5.38 ERA and a 1.55 WHIP over 75.1 innings. An ERA over 5 was certainly not ideal for a pitcher. Nonetheless, in the postseason, Buehler owned a 3.60 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP in 15 innings. This postseason, he made 3 starts and 1 relief appearance. He didn’t give up any runs in the NLCS and in the Fall Classic.
As a Dodgers fan, it was super exciting to watch Buehler’s great performance in the postseason. Nonetheless, some friends and I have a question. What did Buehler do to pitch well in the postseason?
To solve the doubt, I decided to check on the statcast website.
Firstly, let’s look at pitch usage. In the postseason, Walker Buehler’s four-seamer usage increased from 29% to 36.7%. At the same time, he used his knuckle curve more than 20% of the time. In the regular season, he threw his knuckle curve 19.2% of the time. Moreover, his sweeper usage went up to 13.9%. During the regular season, he only threw his sweeper 8.2% of the time.
Buehler’s pitch mix changed in the postseason, but, did his pitch arsenal become different in the postseason? Looking at the pitch velocity, his four-seamer average velocity was actually down a little bit. And average velocity of his knuckle curves dropped to 77.7 mph. Also, the average velocity of his sinkers dropped. Overall, it seems that Walker Buehler didn’t throw that hard in the postseason.
In addition, let’s look at spin rate. Average spin rate of Buehler’s knuckle curves was below 2500 rpm in the postseason. However, the average spin rate of other pitches all went up in the playoffs. In particular, the average spin rate of his four-seamers increased from 2280 rpm to 2338 rpm.
Finally, let’s look at the outcomes. Opponents’ batting average against his four-seamers dropped from .342 to .238. Opponents’ batting average against his cutters decreased to .200. In the meantime, opponents couldn’t collect a hit against Buehler’s knuckle curves in the postseason.
And what’s even more interesting is that Buehler actually generated more swings and misses in the postseason. As we can see, the whiff rate of each pitch increased significantly in the postseason. In particular, the whiff rate of his sweepers was more than 50% in the postseason.
So, taking a closer look at Walker Buehler’s performance this postseason, he relied more on his four-seamer, knuckle curve and sweeper. Average spin rate of his knuckle curves dropped a little bit, however, the average spin rate of his four-seamers and sweepers went up. He didn’t throw his fastballs that hard, but he was able to generate more swings and misses by using his knuckle curves and sweepers well. After second Tommy John surgery, Walker Buehler might not be the same pitcher as he was from 2019 to 2021. Nonetheless, in the 2024 postseason, it seems that he already identified a new way to pitch effectively.
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