PEORIA, Ariz. — Yes, Walker Buehler is on his third group since closing out the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers with a flourish, hanging out the closing two batters he confronted and punctuating the final out by spreading his arms broad in triumph.
But after signing with the San Diego Padres on a minor league deal final month after which breaking camp with them, will it’s unusual for Buehler to be in the similar division as the group with which he won two World Series?
“We’ll see,” Buehler mentioned earlier this month at the Padres’ spring coaching complicated. “Obviously, once we get into the season, we’ll know more. But yeah, I mean, largely the guys that I came up with aren’t there anymore, but obviously I played with a lot of those guys and had a lot of fun in ’24 with a ton of them, so always happy to see them have success, but now it’s a little bit different situation.”
Coming off a disappointing 2025 in which he logged a 4.93 ERA between stints with the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies, the 31-year-old Buehler did sufficient to earn a spot in a pitching rotation coming into the season with a number of query marks.
Yu Darvish will miss the season after present process elbow surgical procedure, and is on the restricted record whereas he contemplates his future. Dylan Cease signed a seven-year, $210-million take care of the Toronto Blue Jays. Joe Musgrove continues to be working his approach again from Tommy John surgical procedure.
The Padres are hoping Buehler, who posted a 3.09 ERA throughout 11 2/3 innings in his first three Cactus League begins, can present a return to form as he slots in as the group’s fourth starter. (He did wrestle in his closing spring coaching begin, giving up seven runs and 11 hits in 3 1/3 innings towards the Arizona Diamondbacks final week.)
“Not my best,” Buehler mentioned. “But at the end of the day, we’re trying to get out of here healthy and feeling good about yourself. … I feel like I’m in a better spot than I had been in a long time and a lot of trust in the process of how we do things around here.”
He is scheduled to pitch Monday towards the San Francisco Giants at Petco Park.
“Our hope is that he kind of returns to who he’s been in the past,” Padres supervisor Craig Stammen mentioned. “And that we have somebody that was a former All-Star pitcher, someone that was a thorn in our side as the Padres, and becomes a thorn in the side for other people.”
The Padres weren’t the solely group to attain out to Buehler. Returning to Philadelphia, the place he rounded out the 2025 season, was additionally an possibility.
“Yeah, it just wasn’t as intriguing or kind of as good an option for me personally,” Buehler mentioned. “Obviously, I enjoyed my time there, and I really respect a lot of those guys.”
For Buehler, a return to Southern California made the most sense.
“We felt in the conversations [that] there was an opportunity to come in and pitch well, and hopefully get a spot in the rotation, and I feel like I’ve done that for the most part,” Buehler mentioned. “Obviously, we have a lot of talent and playoff expectations, and things like that, so kind of a good fit for me in both ways.”
Buehler, who nonetheless boasts a seven-pitch combine, has labored effectively with Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, in accordance to Stammen.
“He came in and was open to new ideas, open to Ruben’s coaching, and what we thought would make him the best pitcher he can be,” Stammen mentioned. “And he’s taken some of those things, brought them into games and we’ve seen the success from that. And so, seeing the buy-in, and then the results on the back end of that, have kind of given us a pretty hopeful feeling of him having a successful season this year.”
As a Dodger, Buehler had his second Tommy John surgical procedure in August 2022 and didn’t return to motion till May 2024. After struggling in his comeback whereas navigating a hip damage, Buehler stepped up in the postseason and pitched 5 scoreless innings to get the win in Game 3 of the World Series earlier than coming again on in the future of relaxation to file his first profession save in the clinching Game 5. Weeks later, he turned a free agent, signing a one-year, $21.05-million contract with the Boston Red Sox. According to Buehler, he nonetheless felt elbow ache all of final season.
“[It wasn’t until] about early [this] spring,” Buehler mentioned. “Kind of right before I signed, things were kind of trending in a good direction and it feels a lot better than in the past.”
As for targets this season?
“Try and be healthy,” Buehler mentioned, “and make as many starts as they need me to, and just improve and kind of get back closer to what I used to be.”
