Who Should I Draft?
Walker Buehler or Aaron Nola (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Walker Buehler SP - LAD  | Aaron Nola SP - PHI  | |
Expert |
53% Recommended by 27 of 51 experts |
47% Recommended by 24 of 51 experts |
| Rankings | ||
| ECR | # 7 | # 8 |
| Best Rank | # 4 | # 3 |
| Worst Rank | # 15 | # 13 |
| ADP | ||
| Composite | # 21 | # 22 |
| Best Rank | # 19 | # 22 |
| Worst Rank | # 26 | # 25 |
| Projections | ||
| Strikeouts | 197 | 222 |
| Wins | 12 | 13 |
| Saves | 0 | 0 |
| ERA | 3.30 | 3.56 |
| WHIP | 1.07 | 1.17 |
| Misc | ||
| Injury Alert | - | - |
| Expert Ranks | ||
| Scott Pianowski Yahoo! Sports | # 4 | # 8 |
| Steve Gardner USA Today | # 7 | # 9 |
| Site Projections RotoChamp | # 5 | # 9 |
| Greg Smith The Fake Baseball | # 4 | # 9 |
| Jeff Boggis Fantasy Football Empire | # 6 | # 7 |
| KJ Fantasy Team Advice | # 8 | # 9 |
| Luke Gloeckner Mr. Cheatsheet | # 7 | # 10 |
| Dave McKay The Fantasy Sports Brain | # 5 | # 7 |
| Andrew Gould FantasyPros | # 5 | # 9 |
| Tim McCullough Baseball Prospectus | # 6 | # 8 |
| Rudy Gamble Razzball | # 5 | # 11 |
| Jake Ciely The Athletic | # 5 | # 8 |
| Chris Meaney FTN | # 5 | # 13 |
| Andy Singleton Expand The Boxscore | # 7 | # 8 |
| Heath Capps Fake Teams | # 6 | # 7 |
| Donkey Teeth Razzball | # 7 | # 8 |
| Andrew Seifter FantasyPros | # 5 | # 9 |
| Jorge B. Edwards Fantasy In Frames | # 5 | # 7 |
| Dennis Sosic Fantasy Six Pack | # 5 | # 8 |
| Ariel Cohen FanGraphs | # 5 | # 12 |
| Ryan Amore Pitcher List | # 4 | # 12 |
| Todd D Clark The Fantasy Fix | # 6 | # 7 |
| Carmen Maiorano FantasyPros | # 6 | # 9 |
| Brad Camara FantasyPros | # 4 | # 9 |
| Staff Rankings Roto Ranks | # 7 | # 8 |
| Joe Pisapia FantasyPros | # 6 | # 8 |
| Nicklaus Gaut RotoBaller | # 9 | # 12 |
| Pierre Camus RotoBaller | # 6 | # 3 |
| Mike Maher FantasyPros | # 7 | # 6 |
| Max Freeze Freeze Stats | # 7 | # 4 |
| Jacob W. Dunne New Life Fantasy | # 7 | # 4 |
| Grey Albright Razzball | # 7 | # 5 |
| Mick Ciallela Fantrax | # 8 | # 7 |
| Dan Harris FantasyPros | # 8 | # 7 |
| Nick Pollack Pitcher List | # 8 | # 6 |
| Wayne Bretsky BretskyBall | # 8 | # 6 |
| Chris Clegg Fantrax | # 9 | # 5 |
| Brendan Tuma FantasyPros | # 9 | # 6 |
| Nate Miller FantasyPros | # 9 | # 7 |
| Andy Behrens Yahoo! Sports | # 9 | # 7 |
| Joe Bond Fantasy Six Pack | # 9 | # 6 |
| Corbin Young FantasyData | # 9 | # 8 |
| Adam Ronis Fantasy Alarm | # 9 | # 7 |
| Michael Petropoulos BRoto Fantasy | # 10 | # 7 |
| Nick Mariano RotoBaller | # 11 | # 7 |
| Michael Waterloo FantasyPros | # 11 | # 7 |
| Lucas Spence Pitcher List | # 11 | # 10 |
| Muntradamus Beast Dome | # 11 | # 7 |
| Jordan Eisen Field of Vision Sports | # 12 | # 7 |
| Dalton Del Don Yahoo! Sports | # 13 | # 7 |
| Mario Mergola Sporfolio | # 15 | # 7 |
| Walker Buehler SP - LAD | Aaron Nola SP - PHI | |
| 2020 Stats | ||
| Games Played | 8 | 12 |
| Games Started | 8 | 12 |
| Innings Pitched | 37.1 | 71.2 |
| Wins | 1 | 5 |
| Losses | 0 | 5 |
| Saves | 0 | 0 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 0 |
| Holds | 0 | 0 |
| Hits Allowed | 24 | 54 |
| Earned Runs | 14 | 26 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 7 | 9 |
| Strikeouts | 42 | 96 |
| Walks | 11 | 23 |
| ERA | 3.44 | 3.28 |
| WHIP | 0.95 | 1.08 |
| Walker Buehler SP - LAD | Aaron Nola SP - PHI | |
| 2021 Projections | ||
| Games Played | 29 | 31 |
| Games Started | 30 | 31 |
| Innings Pitched | 168.9 | 190.0 |
| Wins | 12 | 13 |
| Losses | 6 | 9 |
| Saves | 0 | 0 |
| Blown Saves | 0 | 0 |
| Holds | 0 | 0 |
| Hits Allowed | 137 | 161 |
| Earned Runs | 62 | 75 |
| Home Runs Allowed | 21 | 24 |
| Strikeouts | 197 | 222 |
| Walks | 44 | 60 |
| ERA | 3.30 | 3.56 |
| WHIP | 1.07 | 1.17 |
| Walker Buehler SP - LAD | Aaron Nola SP - PHI | |
| News | ||
| RHP Walker Buehler took the loss on Friday when he allowed three runs on three hits with two walks and five strikeouts over six innings in the Dodgers' 3-1 loss to the Reds. Jon Mathisen Sat, Sep 18th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed three earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out six over five innings in Tuesday's loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Wed, Sep 8th | |
| Walker Buehler allowed just two runs during his seven innings, surrendering six hits and two walks while striking out five batters. Ethan Biddle - The Work of Ethan Biddle Sun, Sep 12th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed six earned runs on six hits and two walks while striking out five over four innings in a no-decision against the Nationals on Thursday. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Fri, Sep 3rd | |
| RHP Walker Buehler took the loss on Sunday when he allowed six runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout over three innings as the Dodgers lost to the Giants 6-4. Jon Mathisen Sun, Sep 5th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed two earned runs on three hits and no walks while striking out seven over 5 1/3 innings in a no-decision against the Diamondbacks on Friday. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Sat, Aug 28th | |
| RHP Walker Buehler took a no-decision on Tuesday when he allowed two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts over seven innings as the Dodgers beat the Braves 3-2. Jon Mathisen Wed, Sep 1st | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed two earned runs on two hits and two walks while striking out 11 over 8 2/3 innings in a no-decision against the Padres on Saturday. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Sun, Aug 22nd | |
| RHP Walker Buehler took a no-decision on Wednesday when he surrendered just one unearned run on three hits with one walk and eight strikeouts over 6 2/3 innings as the Dodgers beat the Padres 5-3 in extra innings. Jon Mathisen Thu, Aug 26th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed four earned runs on six hits and three walks while striking out four over 4 1/3 innings in Sunday's loss to the Reds. The loss drops him to 7-7 on the season. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Mon, Aug 16th | |
| Notes | ||
| Because the Dodgers wanted to closely watch Buehler's routine and workload, he got a late start to the shortened season, essentially using his first few starts as the end of his spring training. He also dealt with blisters late in the year. All that to say, Buehler's 36 2/3 regular-season innings are, for the most part, largely meaningless. He gave up a few more home runs and walked a few more batters than usual, and he won just a single game. But none of it matters. Value Buehler as you did after his 2019 season - as one of the true stud pitchers in the game. Once the big three of Jacob deGrom, Gerrit Cole, and Shane Bieber are off the board, Buehler should come under immediate consideration, as the type of starting pitcher who can be your fantasy ace. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | Nola bounced back from his disappointing 2019 campaign, and looked much closer to the 2018 breakout version of himself last year. His set a career mark in strikeout rate (33.2%, which ranked in the top nine percent in the league) and swinging strike rate (13.4%), and brought his walk rate down to just eight percent. Nola also got batters to swing at pitches outside the strike zone at a rate of 38.1%, far better than he had ever done in his career, and they made contact less than ever, at a rate of only 59.1%. The reason for the change was Nola relying far less on his fastball and more on his changeup, which kept hitters off balance and made both pitches more effective. Nola doesn't throw particularly hard, so his success relies much more on command and finding the right pitch mix, both of which he excelled at in 2020. If he can keep that going in 2021, and it's a good bet he will, he should be considered a fantasy ace. Dan Harris - FantasyPros | |
| There's little doubt that Buehler is one of the most talented starting pitchers in baseball, but we do have questions about his volume entering 2021. Did you know that during the regular season, Buehler had just one appearance where he completed six full innings? This wasn't just a Dodgers thing, either. Julio Urias had five such appearances while Tony Gonsolin had four and Dustin May had three. Of course, the team was saving Buehler for the playoffs more so than their other youngsters, and it worked out. The Dodgers have always handled Buehler with kid gloves, and while he'll be one of the best starters on a per-inning basis in 2021, I'm worried enough about the volume that I'm ranking him closer to the back half of my top-10 starters. Brendan Tuma - FantasyPros | ||
