Walker Buehler Not Satisfied After Making Padres' Opening Day Roster

As the San Diego Padres prepare for the start of the new MLB season, the biggest question around the team has to do with the starting rotation. Not only did San Diego lose ace Dylan Cease to the Toronto Blue Jays in free agency, but injuries to Yu Darvish and Joe Musgrove have placed this unit in a state of flux.

Over the offseason, the Padres did sign veteran right-hander Walker Buehler to a minor league contract, hoping to see him bounce back. Buehler is coming off a tough year in 2025 that saw him split time between the Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies.

The main goal for Buehler entering spring training was to make the Padres' roster, but he knew that he would have some competition to do so. San Diego brought in multiple arms to compete for the final spot in the starting rotation, with Buehler being one of them.

With just days before the start of the new year, Buehler was told he made the Opening Day roster for the Padres. The final rotation spot seems to be going to Germán Márquez, but due to the setback to Musgrove, both he and Buehler made the cut.

However, just making the roster isn't good enough for the former All-Star. Buehler wants to get back to his old self and put together a strong season for San Diego.

“Everybody wants to play in the big leagues,” Buehler said. “I’ve played long enough that going to the minor leagues is not probably something that I would do. To put in an offseason like I did and move the family out here and get in better shape and do a lot of that kind of stuff, it’s super rewarding to kind of achieve the goal. But at the end of day, I still want to go out and have a good year. I think that’s obviously more important than anything else.”

Buehler rejected some major league contracts this offseason to join the Padres on a minor league deal, simply because he believes in what San Diego is doing. Winning is the most important thing to the veteran right-hander, and the Padres are offering him another chance to keep his MLB career alive.

Overall, Buehler has made four starts this spring, allowing 11 runs over 15 innings of work, putting up an ERA of 6.60. Padres manager Craig Stammen has liked what he's seen from the righty so far, and he is excited for the future.

“He bought into our philosophy and the overall holistic approach to making him a better pitcher,” Stammen said. “Him buying into that so quickly and seeing success with it over the last couple starts made us feel really comfortable putting him on the team.”

His struggles last season were tough to see, especially because he was healthy for the first time in a while. Buehler has had two Tommy John surgeries in his career, but has still managed to come out on the other side of everything.

If Buehler can look anything like his old All-Star self — of course, minus the high 90s fastball — the Padres will have gotten a true steal from the offseason. Over his career, Buehler has been one of the more electric pitchers in baseball, especially in clutch situations.