PEORIA, Ariz. — Walker Buehler gambled on himself, and now he gets a chance to really make it pay off.
“I wanted to play in the playoffs and go to a place that has a chance to win,” Buehler, a two-time World Series champion with the Dodgers, said Saturday. “That coupled with the individual stuff and contract terms and all that kind of stuff, it’s kind of a little two-way calculus you’ve got to do. At the end of day, this was the opportunity that I was most excited about, and I’m happy that it worked out.”
As has been expected for some time based on how he performed in spring training and the team’s need for starting pitching, it became official Saturday that the 31-year-old right-hander will be part of the Padres’ season-opening rotation.
Buehler had “a couple” offers for major league deals this offseason. He chose instead to sign a minor-league contract with the Padres and earn his way onto the big-league team. As a veteran with more than six years service time, he had the right to request his release Saturday if he had not been assured he would be on the active roster.
Buehler is guaranteed $1.5 million with the chance to make $2.5 million in performance bonuses in 2025.
After signing with the Padres on Feb. 17, he made three Cactus League starts this spring, allowing four runs on 10 hits in 11⅔ innings. It became clear over his final two starts that he had earned the job.
Buehler’s fastball is down significantly over the past two seasons — since he underwent a second Tommy John surgery in 2022. He hopes to continue to gain velocity, and the Padres believe he can, though not to the 97-98 mph level he was at early in his career. With that in mind, Buehler has retooled his pitch mix.
He has worked with pitching coach Ruben Niebla to alter when and how often he throws his offspeed and breaking pitches, raise his arm angle and make other mechanical adjustments. Buehler has taken to throwing his slider and changeup differently and gone back to his old sweeper, which he threw effectively before surgery.
“He bought into our philosophy and the overall holistic approach to making him a better pitcher,” manager Craig 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.”
Buehler will likely pitch against the Giants in the Padres’ second series after Nick Pivetta, Michael King and Randy Vásquez start against the Tigers.
Multiple sources have said in recent days that Germán Márquez has likely earned the fifth spot in the rotation to start the season.
A second starting job became available when Joe Musgrove was shut down in early March after his arm did not respond well following his first spring start. It is not known when Musgrove, who had Tommy John surgery in October 2024, will return. He has not thrown off a mound since March 8 and would likely need at least three or four minor-league starts before joining the Padres.
The Padres will have to make a decision once he does. They also expect Griffin Canning, who is working his way back from Achilles surgery, to be ready to join the rotation some time in May.
For now, Buehler is being counted on to provide quality innings.
Even as he struggled to a 5.38 ERA last season, he pitched 126 innings over 24 starts and a pair of relief appearances.
Buehler had a 2.75 ERA and 0.98 WHIP in his first 94 starts, from 2018 through ‘21. All of those came with the Dodgers. Those numbers are 4.87 and 1.48 in 52 starts for the Dodgers, Boston Red Sox and Philadelphia Phillies since then.
Few pitchers have ever been better at Petco Park. Among the 140 men to have made at least six starts at the ballpark, Buehler’s 2.18 ERA is fourth best. That includes his shutting out the Padres for six innings on Aug. 8 as a member of the Red Sox.
He was released a little more than two weeks later and finished the season with the Phillies.
“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.”
