Often in the midst of your draft, you’ll find yourself deciding between a couple players at the same position. With Player Showdowns, we take two players who are closely ranked and have writers take a side and debate who should be selected first. Whose side will you be on?
We’ll offer up one Showdown per position (catcher, first base, second base, shortstop, third base, outfield, starter and reliever) here, and you can get dozens more by purchasing the 2019 Rotoworld Baseball Draft Guide. It’s an essential weapon to have in your arsenal at the draft table this spring.
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Trevor Bauer vs. Walker Buehler
Bauer
If this was just about talent, I’d take Buehler in a heartbeat. I think he’s going to be a star; his stuff/command profile is as good as any young pitcher in baseball. Heck, it might be better. This is not just about talent, however, and I have some concerns about how much Buehler is going to pitch in 2019. I expect the Dodgers to be careful with their young star, and because of that, I am not willing to put him above some of the more established talents right now. One of those talents is Bauer, and while he did suffer a long-term injury last year, he appears ready to roll, and I expect him to put up similar rates to Buehler, and more innings. If Buehler isn’t coddled, he could win this battle. I’m just not willing to bet on it just yet. - Christopher Crawford (@Crawford_MILB)
Buehler
I really expected more excitement surrounding Buehler this spring. As a rookie, he had the eighth-best ERA of anyone to throw 100 innings last season, putting him right in between Max Scherzer and teammate Clayton Kershaw. He had Tommy John surgery in 2015, but he’s stayed healthy since coming back, and despite all of the talk of managing his innings last year, he ended up throwing 177 innings, including the postseason. The Dodgers are bringing him along slowly this spring, but he should be capable of a pretty normal workload once the games begin to count, and from a performance standpoint, there aren’t more than couple of guys who are better bets. Buehler has an outstanding fastball and two breaking balls he can get strikeouts with. He doesn’t walk many, and he’s even a groundball pitcher. He’s in arguably the game’s best place for pitchers In L.A. If he throws 170 innings this year, there’s a good chance he’ll be a top-five starter. - Matthew Pouliot (@matthewpouliot)
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