Padres' Walker Buehler Encouraged by Velocity Early in Spring Training

The San Diego Padres signed an All-Star pitcher in February who has been anything but that over the last few years.

Walker Buehler, who was one of baseball's best starting pitchers early in his Los Angeles Dodgers tenure, has struggled mightily at the MLB level since undergoing a second Tommy John surgery.

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A two-time All-Star with the Dodgers in 2019 and 2021, Buehler underwent his second major elbow surgery in August 2022. Since then, he's been a completely different pitcher.

From his debut in 2017 through 2021, Buehler went 40-13 with a 2.90 ERA and 632 strikeouts across 573.1 innings pitched. Since returning in 2024, the right-hander has gone 11-13 with a 5.10 ERA and 156 strikeouts across 201.1 innings pitched.

Buehler did have success in the 2024 postseason for LA, finishing the playoffs with 13 consecutive scoreless innings and getting the final three outs in Game 5 to close out the New York Yankees. Aside from that, though, it's been mostly struggles.

Because of that, Buehler was without a team in February, and the Padres snatched him up on a minor league deal. After two weeks of camp with the Padres — and following his three innings of work on the backfields against the NC Dinos of the Korean Baseball Organization on Saturday — the two-time World Series champion is encouraged with where he's at, especially in terms of his velocity.

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“I think pitching on the backfields is different than pitching (against major leaguers in a stadium),” Buehler said. “Adrenaline is not quite what it probably will be here in the next one. But for (the velocity) to kind of casually be in there, I think is really nice and reassuring.

"Every year my elbow seems to kind of start feeling a little bit better. And this year is no different. I got in a lot better shape than typical offseasons, and I’m feeling good about it.”

Buehler, who averaged 94 mph with his fastball last year, hit as high as 92 mph with his fastball on Saturday, an encouraging sign for an early spring training appearance against a non-MLB team.

While Buehler isn't expecting to get back to throwing in the upper 90s like he did early in his career, he did a good job of mixing his pitches on Saturday, which is what he'll need to do to be successful at the MLB level.

Where does Walker Buehler fit into Padres' plans?

As of now, Buehler is competing for a spot in the back-end of the Padres rotation. If the Padres utilize a five-man rotation, there's likely just one spot available (barring injury) as Michael King, Joe Musgrove, Nick Pivetta and Randy Vásquez would take up the first four.

Buehler is competing with a handful of veterans for the final spot — or two spots if the Padres go to a six-man rotation — including Germán Márquez, JP Sears, Triston McKenzie and Marco Gonzales.

The Padres are reportedly also still keeping their options open for a potential addition to the rotation before Opening Day.

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