This will be a short post because I don’t see many shared characteristics between Trevor Rogers and Walker Buehler. Their upbringings, amateur careers, physical builds and mechanics, and pitch mixes are very different. Heck, they don’t even throw with the same hand. I am not “projecting” Rogers to follow in Buehler’s footsteps.
But both talented pitchers are former first-round MLB Draft picks. They reached the majors quicker than most of their peers and debuted with playoff-contending teams.
Initially, Rogers (in 2020) and Buehler (in 2017) struggled with run prevention. They rebounded the following season—both at age 23—to distinguish themselves as the top starting pitchers in their respective National League rookie classes:
As if often the case with top performers, they were the beneficiary of some good fortune—Buehler in terms of his team’s defense converting balls in play into outs, and Rogers in terms of keeping fly balls from going over the fence.