Padres’ biggest flop to begin 2026 MLB season

The 2026 MLB season is 10 games into the year, and the San Diego Padres are 5-5 on the season, good for tied for second in the NL West with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Padres are coming off three straight wins against the Boston Red Sox and the Pittsburgh Pirates, hoping to win their second consecutive series after losing two straight series to begin the season.

It has not been the start that the Padres had hoped for, but they are playing good baseball over their last three games and are 3-1 overall on the road so far. The offense has not been great, but the rotation and bullpen have been very good, outside of two pitchers. The two pitchers who are hurting the Padres right now are Walker Buehler and Wandy Peralta.

These two pitchers have been the biggest flops of the 2026 season for the Friars so far, but we will focus on the popular right-hander, who is a former World Series champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024.

Walker Buehler signed with the Padres this past offseason and made the Opening Day roster. He was penciled in as the No. 4 starter but has not pitched well in his first two games of the season. He debuted at home against the San Francisco Giants and then pitched on the road in Boston against his former Red Sox team. He has reached just 6.2 innings, allowing seven runs off of eight hits. He’s allowed one home run, walked five batters, and struck out seven.

The right-hander has an ERA of 9.45, a 1.95 WHIP, 1.4 K/BB, .295 OBA, and .943 OOPS. Not to mention … a -0.2 WAR already.

The Padres’ rotation is banged up. Yu Darvish’s career is uncertain with a season-ending injury, Joe Musgrove is still working his way back from TJ, and Griffin Canning is on a lengthy rehab stint in the minors. The Friars have no choice but to start Buehler and German Marquez. Marquez pitched very well in his last start against the Pirates on Monday night, pitching five scoreless innings.

Buehler’s next start will be against the Colorado Rockies at Petco Park this weekend. There are no excuses for that one, as Buehler must turn things around and pitch at least five innings in a brilliant outing. The good news is that there is a long season ahead, but his status in the rotation isn’t certain for the entire campaign.

Still, San Diego is relying on Buehler to bring a veteran and winning presence to the rotation. He has had some elite seasons with the Dodgers and has battled through some tough injuries. The main issues so far this season have been his command, though it is still leading to some strikeouts. Buehler needs to work on locating his offspeed pitches to halt the free passes. His five walks in 6.2 innings are concerning. If he can tone that down from almost one per inning to one per game, then his innings will increase to put the Padres in a better position to win with the elite bullpen.

The Padres’ bullpen has been one of the best units in the league for the last few seasons. It is on its way to continuing in 2026. The rotation just needs five solid innings to give the team a shot at winning every game, with not many runs being scored in the later innings. Buehler is a smart pitcher; he knows what he has to do to turn things around.