Who Should I Draft?
Walker Buehler or Aaron Nola (2021)
Experts' Pick | ||
| Walker Buehler SP - LAD  | Aaron Nola SP - PHI  | |
Expert |
52% Recommended by 26 of 50 experts |
48% Recommended by 24 of 50 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 |
| 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 was handed a no-decision on Friday when he allowed two runs on seven hits with four strikeouts and one walk over six innings as the Dodgers took down the Padres 11-6 in extra-innings. Jon Mathisen Sat, Apr 17th | Phillies ace Aaron Nola tossed a complete game shutout in Sunday's win over the St. Louis Cardinals, striking out ten while allowing to hits and no walks. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Mon, Apr 19th | |
| RHP Walker Buehler picked up his first win of the year on Friday, allowing six hits and no runs with four strikeouts over six innings in the Dodgers 1-0 win over the Nationals. Jon Mathisen Fri, Apr 9th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed three earned runs on seven hits and one walk while striking out seven over five innings in Tuesday's loss to the New York Mets. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Wed, Apr 14th | |
| Walker Buehler took a no-decision on Saturday when he allowed two runs on four hits with four strikeouts over six innings in the Dodgers 6-5 win over the Rockies. Jon Mathisen Sun, Apr 4th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed one earned run on six hits and two walks while striking out five over four innings in a no-decision against the New York Mets on Wednesday. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Thu, Apr 8th | |
| Walker Buehler avoided arbitration by signing a 2-year, $8 million deal with the Dodgers. The deal includes a $2 million signing bonus, and includes several $500K contract escalators based on games started and Cy Young Award finishes. Carmen Maiorano - Carm's Clubhouse Thu, Feb 11th | Phillies starter Aaron Nola allowed two earned runs on six hits and no walks while striking out six over 6 2/3 innings in Thursday's no-decision against the Atlanta Braves on Opening Day. Mike Maher - The Birds Blitz Fri, Apr 2nd | |
| The Phillies announced RHP Aaron Nola as their Opening Day starter. Brad Camara Mon, Mar 22nd | ||
| 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 | ||
