Walker Buehler’s latest stretch has put the Padres in an uncomfortable spot.
After looking much more settled through the end of May and into June, the right-hander has hit a rough patch again, and it’s been a bad one. Over his last three starts, Buehler has given up 20 runs and nine walks in 11 innings, a clear sign that the command he found earlier this summer has slipped away.
Buehler said the issue has been the same miss showing up repeatedly.
"The same miss over and over, left and high,” Buehler said. “I don’t know.
I think the All-Star break is coming at a good time for me. So try not to put too much stock into it.
… Obviously, the past two or past three have been really rough, so good time to take kind of a step back and see what we’re doing.”
The numbers tell the story. Buehler has a 5.36 ERA across 19 starts for San Diego, but that mark doesn’t fully capture how different he looked just a few weeks ago.
In June, he made five starts, worked 26.1 innings and allowed only five runs and eight walks. For a brief stretch, he looked like the pitcher the Padres were hoping to get when they brought him in.
Now, though, he’s back in a familiar cycle of inconsistency.
Padres manager Craig Stammen said the break could help Buehler hit reset.
“Hopefully, maybe a little bit of break over the All-Star break,” Stammen said. “He’s not a spring chicken.
He’s got a lot of innings under his belt, and maybe he just needs a little bit of a breather. You can definitely see you know he’s not as sharp as he was back in June.
We’ll get him right and get him back to that pitcher that we saw that was very effective for us.”
That matters because the Padres can’t really afford to let this keep going. They’re chasing a potential playoff spot, and Buehler’s spot in the rotation is suddenly a real question if the struggles continue.
There’s also the trade angle. Buehler has been talked about as a possible deadline candidate, but his recent outings have likely done damage to his value. Even so, his playoff résumé still gives him some appeal, and if San Diego slips out of the race, another club could still be willing to bet on the version of Buehler that showed up in June.
He signed a minor league deal with the Padres in the offseason in an effort to rebuild his value, and the season has swung sharply between encouraging and frustrating. There’s still time for him to turn it around, but right now, the margin for error is shrinking fast.
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