The VandySports 100: No. 33, Walker Buehler

The Los Angeles Dodgers star pitcher first was a difference-maker for some of Vanderbilt's better baseball teams.

Honors and awards: none

In the VU record book: Career ERA: sixth (2.87)

Before VU: Starred at Lexington, Kentucky's Henry Clay High, where he was a two-time all-state and two-time all-city pick. Set the school single-season strikeout mark with 98 Ks in 66 innings. Four-year varsity star had his jersey retired. The Pirates picked him in Round 14 of the 2012 draft, but he did not sign.

Freshman (2013): Made 16 appearances (nine starts) for a 54-12 (26-3 SEC) team that won the league's regular-season title and was eliminated in the Nashville Super Regional. Had a 1-0 record, a 1.93 ERA, 16 strikeouts and five walks in SEC regular-season play, which included a start vs. Alabama (seven innings, one run, six strikeouts and a win). Gave up five runs on 10 hits in a loss to Georgia Tech in the NCAA Tournament. Earned a win at Louisville in the regular season, throwing 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Pitched three innings of one-run ball to get a save against Kentucky. Pitched two scoreless relief innings with two strikeouts vs. Missouri. Had six-inning starts vs. Buffalo and Eastern Illinois on back-to-back appearances; allowed a run in the first and none in the second, with a combined 11 strikeouts. Made his debut vs. Central Arkansas, when he walked eight in four innings, but also struck out six and allowed just one run.

Sophomore (2014): Made 16 starts across 19 appearances for a 51-21 (17-13) team that won the College World Series. Was primarily the mid-week starter, and therefore pitched just three scoreless innings in SEC play, those coming in a win over Missouri. Struggled against Virginia in the College World Series, allowing five runs on eight hits in three innings. Before that, threw five scoreless innings in the CWS against UC-Irvine, with seven strikeouts across 5 1/3 innings. Allowed four runs (two earned) in a start against Stanford in the Nashville Super Regional. Threw a complete game against Oregon in the Nashville Regional title game, striking out eight while allowing two runs. Picked up a win with eight innings of two-run, five-strikeout baseball against Tennessee in the SEC Tournament. Had a 10-strikeout, one-run complete game to beat Memphis in Jackson, Tenn. Beat MTSU with five innings of one-earned-run, nine-strikeout ball. Struck out 10 and allowed one earned run in seven innings to get a win over Indiana St., and did the same against Belmont. Beat EIU with five innings of two-run, five-strikeout work. Didn't allow an earned run in five innings against Lipscomb, earning a win while posting five Ks.

Junior (2015): Buehler made 16 appearances (all starts) for a 51-21 (20-10) team that finished second to Virginia at the College World Series. In SEC regular-season play, Buehler threw 63 2/3 innings, with a 3-2 record and a 3.11 ERA, with 65 strikeouts against 19 walks. Battled arm troubles that year and didn't pitch until March 3 against Evansville (two scoreless relief innings). Allowed two runs in three innings in his final start, which came in Game 3 of the CWS finals against Virginia; soon thereafter, underwent Tommy John surgery. Gave up one run, striking out eight, while earning the win in a CWS start vs. TCU. Pitched five scoreless innings, striking out seven, in VU's 21-0, Nashville Regional-clinching win against Radford. Allowed one run in six innings in SEC regular-season-closing loss to Alabama. Lost to South Carolina, striking out six and giving up three earned runs. Beat Arkansas with six innings of one-run, seven-strikeout ball. Allowed an earned run and struck out five in a loss to TCU.

Post-VU: Los Angeles took Buehler 24th overall in the 2015 MLB Draft, and despite 2015 arm surgery that sidelined him for a year, Buehler needed just 109 2/3 innings in the minors before the Dodgers called him up in 2017. He's had a good MLB career so far and made the All-Star team in 2019.

Final thoughts, and why I ranked him where I did: A dozen years from now, if you ask the question, "Who was the most successful professional athlete Vanderbilt ever produced in any sport?" the answer could well be "Walker Buehler." Buehler always had several good pitches and came back stronger after the arm injury; he's now capable of touching 100 with his fastball. Add in a 5.8 strikeout-to-walk ratio last year, when he was just 25, and that's a great window into what Buehler is capable of achieving.

With that said, the results at Vanderbilt didn't totally match up with what he's doing now. That's not necessarily a knock on Buehler. He came to VU in 2013, when VU had veterans Kevin Ziomek, Tyler Beede and Philip Pfeifer already around to man the weekend rotation, plus other veterans like Tyler Ferguson and Jared Miller---and finally, Carson Fulmer, a talented arm who came to VU with Buehler, also there to compete for meaningful innings.

Buehler also played for Tim Corbin, whose philosophy can easily be described as, "If everything we're doing is working for everybody, let's not screw this up." That basically describes the case with VU's pitching in 2013 and 2014--and that's why Buehler was a mid-week starter for two seasons.

Then came the junior-year arm trouble, which caused him to miss part of the start of the season. Buehler may not have been 100 percent, and I'm suspecting he wasn't in that final CWS start against Virginia. That may be the ultimate "what-if" game in VU history, because if Buehler is his normal self, the Commodores may well have been back-to-back national champions.

So no, Buehler didn't get three years of SEC weekend excellence like others on the list. That 2.88 ERA also loses some luster because run-scoring was down about 12 percent, compared to the overall 2003-19 time period for these rankings. The NCAA Tournament starts, like that one against Virginia, weren't always great, but sometimes they were (Oregon in 2014, TCU and Radford in 2015). As for the rest, Buehler generally did well at whatever he was asked to do.

If you want to say that there were others behind Buehler who produced a little more at VU, there's an argument there. There's also the fact that Buehler never so much as earned a second-team All-SEC mention, let alone an All-American honor. But given the context of his career--not to mention the fact that Buehler was part of three teams that combined to go 156-54, win a national title, just miss another and win an SEC title in that other year--I think that, combined with what he's proven with the Dodgers, earns Buehler the benefit of the doubt.