Clayton Kershaw got an unusual assignment Tuesday night, working Peacock’s in-game coverage of Game 1 of the National League wild-card series between the Padres and Cubs. That setup broke from NBC Sports’ usual approach of pairing a franchise icon with his own team’s broadcast. But it also gave Kershaw a chance to speak about a pitcher he knows better than almost anyone: Walker Buehler.
Kershaw and Buehler shared a rotation in Los Angeles from 2017-24. They were together for the Dodgers’ 2020 World Series title and again in 2024, when Buehler finished off the Dodgers’ Game 5 win over the Yankees to secure the championship.
So when Buehler resurfaced in San Diego on a prove-it minor league deal in February, Kershaw already had a front-row view of what the right-hander could still bring. Buehler went 9-6 with a 4.63 ERA in 32 starts for the Padres, and Kershaw pointed to the grind of Buehler’s comeback as a big part of why he was impressed.
"Going through the arm surgeries that he's had to go through and everything that he's had to go through, and, for him to have the year that he had - you know he had his ups and downs - but for like starts of like 10 in a row and 11 starts in a row, he pitched really well," Kershaw told Marty Caswell. "So I'm happy for that."
Buehler’s finish was strong, too. Over his last 13 regular-season starts, he went 4-1 with a 3.62 ERA and averaged five innings per outing. The Padres won 10 of those 13 games.
That late push fit Kershaw’s view of him as a big-moment arm.
"Ultimately, Walker is somebody that you want on the mound," Kershaw told Caswell. "He wants to compete.
He knows how to compete. He seems to thrive in bigger moments.
In situations like this, he might find himself in a really big spot, and that's probably a good thing for the Padres."
Buehler is on the Paternity List now, but he is expected back for the National League Division Series when the series returns to San Diego for Game 3.
And if the Padres and Dodgers somehow cross paths in 2026, it would have to happen in the National League Championship Series, with that broadcast airing on FOX. Kershaw wouldn’t be on the call then, but he’d almost certainly be watching Buehler from a distance anyway.
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