Walker Buehler is taking the first pHillie test. Can he make his way into a role in October?

Philadelphia – No one signs a contract for $ 21 million and imagine published in August – not when you launched the last launch of previous World Series two days after launching five goalless rounds, and not when you have name recognition in sport like Walker Buehler. It had to be a humiliating thing last month when the Boston Red Sox decided that it was better to pay Buehler to leave rather than continue to present it.

“The most, really,” said Buehler. “Yeah.”

But, in Buehler’s mind, he did not doubt that he did not doubt again in the majors this season. He is Walker Buehler. He was only 31 years old. He experienced two terrible regular seasons in a row, but he has more to offer.

So it was Friday evening, on the mound of Citizens Bank Park to start a team that is about to guarantee another October with baseball at South Philly. He launched five innings in an 8-2 phillie victory over a team of Kansas City Royals. He allowed a race. He launched strikes. He was fine.

He was there.

“For me, it’s such a good sign in terms of play that these are not all analyzes,” said Buehler. “There are teams who always want to take the game by horns and say:” Listen, this guy was really good in the playoffs. I hope we can fix it. If it works, it’s great. If this is not the case, we gave it the minimum for three weeks. ” RIGHT?”

RIGHT.

The phillies are far from thinking about where Buehler could suit – or not at all – in October. For the moment, the arrangement is mutually beneficial. Phillies needed a sixth starter to protect their best arms on the section. Buehler needed a temporary home to try to recover a certain value before hitting the free agency again.

It is not difficult to fold your eyes and see it somehow involved in the playoffs. Can Buehler show the phillies enough in three departures this month to be considered in October?

“Well, I mean, we had four guys who are going quite well right now,” said manager Rob Thomson. “So he must dominate, roughly.”

And as a lifter?

“Yeah,” said Thomson. “I mean, it’s in conversation. Undoubtedly. “

Phillies actually have nine pitching locks for October. There are the three left starters – Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez and Jesús Luzardo. Aaron Nola, even if he does not start, appears on the list. The enclosure of lifts in Jhoan Duran, Matt Strahm, David Robertson, Orion Kerkering and Tanner Banks.

This leaves three or four jobs – depending on whether the phillies bear 12 or 13 launchers – to claim.

During his beginnings at the Phillies, Buehler looked competent. This helped that he had faced a range of Kansas City which ranked 28th in marked points and 24th in Ops. But the Royals disembark at a lower pace than any club but the Blue Jays de Toronto, and that presented certain challenges. Kansas City hung 19 Buehler terrains. Sometimes he did not have a putway terrain.

Buehler withdrew three. His 11 swings and missions were the most important he had during an outing since June 17. The phillies just wanted five decent rounds.

“He was exactly what we needed,” said Thomson.

“He is directly part of this mold to be a Philadelphia baseball player,” said Bryce Harper. “Just a lot of fun being with him. Obviously, he launched in great moments, deeply in the playoffs. So getting a guy like that in our clubhouse is huge for us. And he went there and did a great job tonight.”

Lots of Buehler at the moment is a hypothetical, just like for the Los Angeles Dodgers at that time last season. Before Friday evening, Buehler experienced a 5.42 MPM in his previous sleeves of the regular season of 187 2/3. He said there were similarities between this season and the last.

“I was Sh – T all year round,” said Buehler, “then trying to understand it at the end.”

The end is when Buehler prospered. It has an MPM of 3.04 in 94 2/3 sleeves in playoffs. The phillies tinkered with part of his mechanics, and Buehler said that he was satisfied with how he maintained his delivery during the release of Friday.

There is a recent phillies for Buehler, and he turned out to be the launcher opposed to him on Friday evening. When the Phillies acquired Michael Lorenzen on the deadline for trade in 2023, they imagined it as a sixth starter which could pass to a role of enclosures of the statements closer to October. Lorenzen has been a lifter for the last 12 days of this season. But he never entered the team’s season plans, and he only launched twice as a long lifter in October.

Lorenzen was an All-Star this season; The phillies made a real perspective to obtain it. While Buehler passed the success of the League, he came here after another competitor released him. The bar is higher to break the October pitching puzzle.

For the moment, the phillies are engaged in the rotation of the six men until September. But if Buehler does well in his next departure and the phillies remain satisfied with beginners in front of him on the depth board, they could see what Buehler looks like shorter gusts.

They can win the East National League on Sunday. The greatest priority is to guarantee a Bye in the first round. The seeded is still at stake.

“We will try to win every match, there is no doubt,” said Thomson. “Having an advantage in the field – if we get there in the playoffs – is huge for us. Because if you just look at our home record, we play here. We have a fans base that supports us. I think the guys are burning. So, we will try to win this first seeded, without any doubt.”

Buehler is along the journey. He will note next weekend against Arizona Diamondbacks.

“In the end,” said Buehler the day before his debut at the Phillies, “I think this team is quite talented to do so, whether I am good or bad.” He is not wrong. But there is no harm to see if he can help.

“It’s a cool thing that a team as this one wanted me to be part,” said Buehler. “I hope I can contribute in one way or another, and I think that today was a good first step in this way.”

(Photo: Mitchell Leff / Getty Images)