Walker Buehler has shown significant improvement in his last eight starts with the San Diego Padres.
In a discussion on 97.3 The Fan, he explained that these performances are a departure from his earlier struggles this season.
“We’ve been working on a lot of things, and there’s definitely more to come. The first six or seven starts didn’t go as we hoped,” Buehler noted during an interview with Sammy Levitt.
“It takes time to adjust, but some of it feels like it’s becoming more natural now. I’m really pleased that our efforts are starting to show results.”
In those eight outings, Buehler has resembled the pitcher who previously secured two World Series titles with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2020 and 2024.
Currently on the Padres after signing a $1.5 million minor league contract this offseason, Buehler has been through a lot this year, moving across three different teams.
After a rocky start to the season where he held a 6.75 ERA in his first seven games, Buehler has turned things around, boasting the fourth-best ERA since May 10 at 2.76 and racking up 36 strikeouts over the last eight starts.
He attributes his recent success to mixing up his pitches more effectively rather than sticking to a conventional approach.
“My changeup has gotten better, I’ve relied more on my sinker, and my cutter is less frequent now. The slider has improved a bit too,” Buehler explained. “We’ve assessed everything I do to see what changes we can make to pitch with more confidence.”
His sinker usage jumped quite a bit—from 12.7% in April to 21.2% in May and settling at 19.4% in June. In the last two months, he faced 40 batters with only 11 getting hits and 6 striking out.
This resurgence includes a notable increase in his sinker’s whiff rate, which was 0.0% in April, improved to 12.5% in May, and settled at 3.2% in June.
Buehler is gradually regaining his fitness while pitching for the Padres. This weekend will be particularly significant as he faces his former team, the Dodgers, in a three-game series at Petco Park.
