The last pitch Walker Buehler ever threw in a Dodgers uniform didn’t feel real. It felt staged. Scripted by some Hollywood screenwriter that still is romantic about baseball.
The Dodgers versus the Yankees in the Fall Classic. Game 5 at Yankee Stadium. Pitching on just one days’ rest, here comes Buehler to get the final three outs to win the World Series.
Buehler struck out his former teammate Alex Verdugo on a curveball in the dirt. He outstretched his arms and stared at the Dodgers dugout like a gladiator in the Roman Coliseum that just vanquished his opponent.
“It’s a super surreal moment,” said Buehler, reflecting back on the final pitch he threw in a Dodgers uniform. “I spent a lot of years in LA, for that to be my last pitch is something I’ll always look back fondly on.”
Buehler sat down with The California Post in an exclusive interview ahead of his first start of the 2026 season.
His Dodgers chapter closed on a perfect note, but now he’s on the other side of it wearing Padres brown and gold.
At 31 years old and now a father, Buehler is more mature and appreciative than ever before. He’s had to evolve as a pitcher as well.
“I would love to throw 100 mph,” Buehler admitted. “But I have to use it a little more selectively than I used to.”
Buehler was one of the first pitchers in baseball to undergo not one, but two Tommy John surgeries in his throwing elbow.
“It sucks,” he said bluntly. “The second Tommy John is horrific and the timing of mine in terms of my career was really tough. Right now, I’m grateful to be able to wake up and my elbow doesn’t hurt. Overall, I’m happy to be playing professional baseball.”
That’s not the voice of a flamethrower chasing radar guns. That’s the voice of a pitcher who understands survival. Who understands that dominance now has to be manufactured, not unleashed.
The old Buehler could bully hitters with his fastball. Not anymore.
“Now I’m having to mix and match,” he said. “Guys are going to see the same pitch multiple times. That’s a new thing for me… I’m getting back to the way I pitched in college.”
That’s not regression. That’s evolution. It’s also far more dangerous than people realize.
Because pitchers who learn how to think — really think — tend to last longer than the ones who rely on sheer force alone.
“He’s learning how to be a pitcher which is cool to see,” said Buehler’s new manager Craig Stammen. “He was a thrower that was a pitcher back when he was with the Dodgers. His fastball was elite, but now he’s learning how to pitch, mix speeds, throw to both corners. It’s fun to see him evolve into a real pitcher.”
Despite being a two-time All-Star and World Series Champion, Buehler had to earn his spot in San Diego.
Invited to camp as a non-roster invitee, Buehler signed a minor league contract with the Padres. After a strong spring, he made the opening day roster and will take the mound Monday night against the Giants.
Which brings us to the rivalry with his former team that everyone wants to feel more than he does.
“Rivalries are a thing and we feel them on the field,” Buehler said. “But largely rivalries are for fanbases.”
It’s almost disappointing, isn’t it? No venom. No manufactured drama. Just respect.
“They’re the defending champs,” he added. “We have a lot of talent and a lot of confidence… hopefully we make a run at it.”
That’s it. That’s the rivalry, stripped down to its bones. Two heavyweights. Same division. Same goal. No need for theatrics.
Buehler sees the Dodgers more clearly than most. He lived inside the system while it was transforming — while it was shedding its homegrown skin and becoming something colder, sharper, more efficient.
An evil empire. He also appreciates the dynasty he helped build.
“I was part of a couple of those World Series,” said Buehler of the Dodgers, who have won three World Series titles in six years, and are going for a three-peat in 2026.
“I don’t think they are ruining baseball in any form,” Buehler said, pushing back on the loudest narrative in the sport. “The way the Dodgers are operating now is so much closer to how 29 other owners could act.”
That’s the part people don’t want to hear.
Buehler is calling out what most players in the league believe as well. The Dodgers aren’t the problem, it’s the other 20-something owners that aren’t spending that are the problem.
“The spending of free agents is the rising of the tide, maybe LA had to be the first to do it, but 29 other teams need to follow suit just like they did with the development in the minor leagues,” said Buehler. “There are some cities that can make the argument that they don’t have the money, but I think 25 other owners do.”
Which is why the looming conversation around a salary cap feels, to Buehler, like a smokescreen.
“I understand it,” he said. “But I don’t agree with it. We’ve seen it in every other league and it doesn’t work.”
Because a cap won’t fix ambition. It won’t force owners to care. It won’t suddenly make organizations invest in winning.
It just lowers the ceiling — and quietly protects those already comfortable living below it.
“There’s a lot of organizations that need good players, and everyone wants to get mad about the Dodgers getting another great player. The floor level for some of these teams have to improve,” said Buehler. “The game is getting younger because the high end is getting more expensive and the low end is just using first three-year minimum players.”
Buehler refuses to play along with lazy narratives dominating the headlines when it comes to baseball. Which is what will make is return to Dodger Stadium this summer so fascinating.
“I guess we’ll have to see,” he said of the reception he thinks he’ll get now that he’s with the hated Padres. “Hopefully all in all it’s neutral.”
Neutral doesn’t feel right for Buehler. He’s not just a former Dodger. He’s a World Series hero. And even though he’s now residing inside enemy territory, that doesn’t make him a villain.
He’s a man who authored one of the most perfect endings the sports has seen in years.
He’s a pitcher who lost his arm, found his mind, and now has to prove that thinking can be just as lethal as throwing hard.
And he’s a person that understands the game well enough to be able to challenge it.
The dynasty he helped build is still standing tall. Still spending. Still winning.
Now he has to face it 11 times a year.
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