Former Dodgers, Red Sox Castoff Turning Into Steal for Padres

When the San Diego Padres signed veteran right-hander Walker Buehler in February, there weren't a ton of firm expectations from the team.

After all, Buehler had just come off a poor 2025 season that saw him split time between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies. In 2024, he struggled with the Los Angeles Dodgers before coming up big in the postseason. The team then elected to not give him a qualifying offer or re-sign him in free agency.

Buehler signed a minor league deal to join San Diego, and while he was expected to compete for a spot in the Opening Day starting rotation, there was no guarantee. The right-hander was going to have to prove himself to this organization, and after some shaky first outings, the signing has looked like a smart one.

To this point, Buehler has made eight starts for the Padres, posting an ERA of 5.20 overall. But the right-hander has looked much better over his last few starts, allowing a total of just two runs in two of his previous three outings.

In the last game against the St. Louis Cardinals. Buehler went six innings, allowing two runs and two hits. After the game, Padres manager Craig Stammen praised the veteran for his outing and how he approached the situations.

“Other than [one bad inning], man, he was nails,” Stammen said. “And we’ve kind of been seeing flashes of this from Walker over the last few starts, and felt really confident with how he’s trending in the right direction.”

With the Padres rotation still having some questions, it seems that Buehler has earned a longer leash to show what he can do. San Diego is very familiar with how dominant the right-hander can be, having faced him so many times while he was with the rival Dodgers.

But now with the Padres, Buehler is just trying his best to perform well for the franchise. Buehler said he even sought out the Padres over the offseason, choosing San Diego over other teams that he could have signed with.

Buehler has been working closely with Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla, praising him for helping his game get back on track. The righty is a former All-Star, and at one point, he was seen as a top arm across baseball. His goal is to get back to this level of performance.

While everything hasn't gone fully to plan for Buehler with the Padres, he has put the work in to get better each day. And this is all San Diego can ask from the veteran starter as the year moves forward.

Buehler is earning $1.5 million this season to be an end-of-the-rotation pitcher. If he can give San Diego a chance to win in each of his starts, he's more than doing his job.

The Padres have won Buehler's last two outings, and five of eight overall this season.

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