Padres reveal Joe Musgrove replacement in pivotal new rotation decision

The Padres did not exactly choose the calm route here. With Joe Musgrove headed to the injured list to open the season, San Diego has decided to carry Walker Buehler on the Opening Day roster, which turns what once looked like a low-risk spring flier into one of the more interesting bets on this entire staff. The Padres are now counting on him to help stabilize a rotation that has already taken on way too much chaos before a real game has even been played. 

This is exactly the kind of move the Padres were always going to talk themselves into making once the door opened. Musgrove is out for now. Griffin Canning is still working back from his Achilles tear. Matt Waldron is behind schedule. Yu Darvish is done for the year. Suddenly, a team that looked like it had some interesting depth questions a few weeks ago is now at the point where opportunity is showing up fast for anyone with a pulse. 

Walker Buehler chosen to fill in for Joe Musgrove as Padres face early rotation stress

Buehler is still coming off a rough 2025 season in which he posted a 4.93 ERA and a career-worst 16.3 percent strikeout rate over 126 innings between Boston and Philadelphia. That’s the profile of a veteran trying to prove there is still something left to unlock after injuries, mileage, and diminished stuff have changed the whole picture. The version of Buehler the Padres are getting is very different from the one that used to overpower hitters with upper-90s heat. 

Still, this is where the move gets loaded in a way we can’t ignore. The Padres are not asking Buehler to be a nostalgia act. They just need him to matter. They’re asking him to cover real innings while the rotation tries to survive an early injury wave. He’s punched out 13 batters in 11 2/3 Cactus League innings, which is encouraging, but he is still sitting in the low-90s with the fastball and trying to pitch his way into a new version of himself. That can work. But it can also get exposed quickly once the games count. 

What makes the decision understandable is that the alternatives are not exactly overflowing with comfort either. Germán Márquez is expected to open in the rotation too, but he has had an uneven spring of his own. The Padres are choosing upside, experience, and the possibility that Buehler can still give them something real while Musgrove is down. Given the circumstances, that is probably the swing they had to take. 

It’s a gamble, plain and simple. Maybe it ends up looking sharp if Buehler finds another gear and gives the Padres a competent veteran bridge through April. Maybe it looks messy if the velocity never ticks up and hitters remind everyone why he had to settle for a minor league deal in the first place. Either way, this is no longer just a nice spring comeback story. The Padres just made it a real rotation storyline, and now they need it to hold.