Walker Buehler continued his momentum in June with another effective outing on Friday against the Los Angeles Dodgers. It was Buehler’s second time facing the Dodgers, but first instance with the San Diego Padres.
“He would love nothing more than to shove it up our you-know-what,” manager Dave Roberts said before the series opener at Petco Park. “We know that, we love him for it. It’s going to be a good one. He’s going to bring some intensity. It will be fun.”
For his part, Buehler initially put an emphasis on merely wanting to help the Padres make up ground in the National League West standings and being competitive against any team. But he then allowed for Roberts’ assessment being correct.
“Listen, I have no bad blood against that organization. They treated me very well for a long time. I think in some way I did to them as well. My last pitch there was the last out of a World Series. I don’t really know how else I would’ve gone out any better than that,” Buehler began, per Marty Caswell of Foul Territory.
“Yeah, I want to kick everyone’s ass. I want to beat everyone. Especially in the division and especially a team that has been so successful against the organization I’m with now. I want to be a part of turning that around and I certainly don’t want to lose to them. So Doc is not wrong.”
The 31-year-old mentioned his first-ever start against the Dodgers last season as a member of the Boston Red Sox carried more of an emotional impact. The only takeaways from Friday’s game were a confidence boost and a useful data point for future starts this season.
“I think the first one was in Boston was a lot bigger, emotional, kind of load, for lack of a better word,” Buehler recalled. “It’s a team in our division. I’m going to have to pitch against them. It’s good to get the first one in this uniform at home and we’ll see what kind of happens on the road.
“I haven’t thrown at Dodger Stadium yet, which will be kind of a different thing. Nice to kind of have something to fall back on a little bit in terms of having some success.”
Buehler previously remarked that he hopes for a neutral reaction from Dodgers fans when if or when he does take the mound for the Padres in a start at Dodger Stadium.
But with the nine-year veteran now on the other side of the heated matchup, he otherwise is not making it a bigger deal than it is.
“Listen, I’m 1-0 against them as a San Diego Padre. That’s kind of where we’re at,” Buehler said.
Walker Buehler recalls rookie year with Dodgers
As Buehler mentioned, he and the Dodgers owe each other a lot from their seven-year relationship. Among the benefits the he received was an environment of success during his rookie season that gave him the confidence he needed to become the pitcher he is now.
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