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Mar 10, 2026; Tempe, Arizona, USA; San Diego Padres pitcher Walker Buehler (10) in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Tempe Diablo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images The fifth spot in San Diego's starting rotation may have been claimed after right-hander Walker Buehler tossed five scoreless innings against the San Francisco Giants on Monday afternoon in Peoria. The once Los Angeles Dodgers ace, who signed a minors deal with the Padres in February, struck out seven batters and lowered his spring ERA to 3.
09 through three Cactus League starts. Buehler's fastball velocity was sitting between 91 to 93 mph with good tilt on his breaking pitches. As the hurler continues to embrace a more finesse based style of pitching as opposed to over powering opposing hitters at the plate, he spoke postgame on his pitch mix against San Francisco: "Yeah, I mean it's kinda a use it or lose it situation.
I would love to throw it 100 [mph] as I've said a million times, but we've gotta use it a little more selectively than we used to," Buehler said of his fastball usage. "My strengths are on the outside of the ball and spinning it. The new slider has really helped out as well, kinda two new mid-speed pitches that are putting some more pressure on guys to either choose hard or soft," he added.
Walker Buehler was locked in: 5 IP 3 H 2 BB 7 Ks 0 R This is what we were hoping to see. pic. twitter.
com/w1AhKpfOWy — SleeperPadres (@SleeperPadres) March 16, 2026 On 77 total pitches thrown on Monday, Buehler landed 45 of them for strikes. He and Padres pitching coach Ruben Niebla have worked on off-speed pitch shapes reminiscent of his stuff from 2021, which he cites as a more comfortable approach. Manager Craig Stammen spoke with the media before Monday's contest versus San Francisco and clarified that filling out rotation spots will "probably" be addressed the day before Opening Day.