Walker Buehler News: Likely to make Opening Day rotation

Buehler is trending toward beginning the regular season as part of the Padres' starting rotation, Manny Randhawa of MLB.com reports.

Buehler signed with San Diego in February on a minor-league contract, so he'd need to be added to the 40-man roster in order to break camp with the club. That seems to be a probable scenario given the team's need to fill out the rotation, especially now that Joe Musgrove (elbow) has been deemed likely to begin the campaign on the IL. Buehler has been one of several hurlers competing for a rotation spot, and he may have clinched the role with a superb Cactus League start against San Francisco on Monday, as he tossed five scoreless frames with seven strikeouts. The right-hander was a valuable fantasy asset in his prime, but it remains to be seen how close he can get to his peak form given that he's lost several miles per hour off his fastball hasn't posted an ERA below 4.00 since 2021.