The Dodgers and Diamondbacks getting set for first pitch here at Dodgers Stadium, and
we're joined right now by Dodger You're All Star and World Series champion Walker Buehler,
who's got the goatee going and the swag even more drip than usual.
So I know you're feeling good. This isn't any more than usual. These
are my cleats and my glove for the year. Come on. I was
telling people in spring training there was a moment in time where I knew things
were going the right way because you were back to yourself. Yeah. I
mean everyone keeps telling me that, like, the more I run my mouth,
the better, and so I don't know, I probably manufactured it for
a while, but no, I feel good. Was there a moment in
time in spring training that you felt like, Okay, now I'm starting to
feel like I'm beyond being a rehab patient. Yeah. I mean I had
a couple of good libyps and that was kind of a step forward at that
time. But you know, I think this rehab thing, especially the second
one, kind of isn't as linear as maybe I wanted it to be.
And obviously my first two starts here didn't go how I would want, and
so you kind of reassess and and learn like that that's part of it.
And now obviously we're kind of a little bit back on the train, but
uh, you know, at the same time, you got to think the
same things and go and work the same way and do all those good things.
I've heard players say this in the past with less serious injuries than yours,
that the physical part is part of it, but mentally trusting your body
to be able to do things is the biggest hurdle. Did you experience that
as well? Yeah, I mean I think it's hard to know what a
ball is going to do or where it's going to go when you don't know
how your arm's gonna feel in the way there, right, I think that's
the biggest thing. And kind of getting out of that rehab mindset. You
know, everybody says the rehab mindset. I think largely like when you're really
good, like when I've been good in this game, it's like there's no
physical concern and so you know, you're concerned solely about yourself physically for two
years, and so it's a little bit of a transition, and you know,
now I can kind of get back to competing and trying to, you
know, do what I want with the ball and instead of worrying about what
the ball is going to do to my elbow. Walker. I was one
of the few that was watching your podcast here in LA on a regular basis
because you were really candid with everything that you were going through. Did you
feel like that was kind of like a journal in some ways in a in
a twenty twenty four space, because you were you were really spilling your emotions
and how you were feeling and where things were going. Well, yeah,
I think, you know, it was important to me. You know,
I think whether this went good, bet or ugly, like to be able
to talk through it's kind of cool. I think also we can blame the
people of Buffalo Trace for sending me stuff. I don't think I normally would
say everything I say on there, But that's kind of the fun of it,
right and getting to actually talk through you know, where you're at,
and you know, I think we'll do another one of those here soon and
kind of talk through the the good, good parts of this thing you said
on that podcast Just Baseball that May was. It's kind of the month that
you were circling and you guys were working backwards, so I guess it was
on schedule in some ways. Yeah, I mean we actually probably well,
I first May sixth, I think we probably beat it by you know,
eight days or so, so we were pretty pretty close. We had always
said mid May and then kind of see through the season how we're holding up
and if I need a breather or blow or whatever, and you know,
I think that's probably still an option at some point. Obviously I feel really
good right now. But yeah, it's always good to kind of tick off,
you know, beat a goal, I guess in some way. But
you know, my goal was to get back last year. I didn't do
that, so I'm glad this one worked out a little bit better. Is
it fair to repeat that last start, the start before your next start is
a bridge to the rest of your season. You're building off each one.
Yeah, I mean I think every start is, you know, every season
that I've played, it's trying to build on something, or build on the
last one, or get back to one before or whatever. I think,
you know, the the mindset of the mentality for me is a little bit
different than it used to be, and I think it has to be and
you know I kind of came together in my last start, and you know,
we need to keep putting it together. The one thing that I love
about your mentality that hasn't changed. You don't just want to be out there.
You want to be the best. And it feels like the more you
get that itch, the more you want more. Yeah. I mean,
you know, at the end of the day, I think I got really
lucky to be in this organization. You know, drafted here and come up
here, and you know, we've always been good in the regular season,
Like there's you know, you put together a nice start in the regular season.
That's kind of that's awesome, and that's what everybody wants. But you
know, we're building towards being really good in October. And I think that's
a perspective that I kind of was brought up with here. And you know,
something I don't think is going to change. I've never asked you this
before, but do you pitch with a chip on your shoulder? People always
seem to short change, whether it was in college you were better than and
where they slotted you, you were better than where you were drafted because of
the elbows surgery, do you pitch with that chip on your shoulder. Yeah,
I think so. I mean, I think you're kind of always teetering
with you know, if you're having any sort of success, I think you're
teetering behind or between like that chip and then you know, being too confident,
and you know, when you get hurt. I think that's probably the
most humbling thing that can happen to an athlete. You know, if you
if you perform badly, like you get to do it again the next week
or the next day or whatever. But getting hurt it's really you know,
for me, it's been twenty two months of kind of trying to figure out
how to be good at this game again and you know, provide for your
family and all of that, and so yeah, I mean I think there's
some sort of chip. I think for that to actually do anything, you
have to like physically be right and mentally be ready to compete. And I
think this last start was kind of all of that coming together. Before I
let you go, you must have been feeling a little buffalo trace ish.
When you gave off St Barnes credit for why you moved on the mound,
I thought that was really revealing. He's been telling me this for a couple
of years, and I don't I don't like doing it, but Barnsy has
his moments and it really made a difference, right I think. So.
I mean, you know, it's kind of an abstract thing, but the
orientation of our body and the way my eyes see the plate and stuff like
that can kind of dictate some things happen physically. And you know, Barnes
has always talked about how he wants certain things to come out in certain you
know, lanes and things like that, and I had to be really perfect
for it to come out like that where I used to be. And so
hopefully, you know, this kind of change works for the long term,
but even just for the one I have to give him a little little hot
to Walker. It's great having you back. I'm a little nostalgic. You
mean a lot to me. The guys that have been here since you were
a rookie mean a lot to me, no matter what uniform they're wearing.
So it feels like the world is a little bit more normal with you pitching
again. I forciate it, man. We'll talk to you guys here later on