The torch has been passed. Truthfully, it was passed a while ago.Walker Buehler has been the Dodgers’ best pitcher, the pitcher they turned to in their most important games, for most of the past few years now. That he will make his first Opening Day start on Friday in Colorado, succeeding Clayton Kershaw in that lead role, is just further evidence.

But don’t call him the ace of the Dodgers’ staff.

“No,” Buehler said this spring. “I think, for me, if he’s wearing our jersey then he’s our guy.”

Told of Buehler’s response, Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said, “I love that.” And it resonates throughout the Dodgers’ roster.

“I agree with Buehler. As long as Kersh is here, he’s the guy,” Dodgers infielder Max Muncy said.

“How you define the best pitcher is different for each person. Just because someone has the best stats doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the best pitcher. As far as we’re all concerned, Kersh is the best pitcher in here and he will be. And he will go down as probably one of the best pitchers in Dodgers history and one of the best pitchers of all time. I agree with Buehler 100 percent. As long as he’s here, he’s the ace and he’s the guy that everyone is going to follow.”

Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior puts Kershaw’s status in a whole new category – “ace emeritus.”

“Kersh is always going to be the No. 1 here,” Prior said. “His wealth of knowledge and his impact on the team is not even quantifiable. From that standpoint, he is the ace.”

The Dickson Baseball Dictionary defines “ace” as “a team’s top pitcher” and dates the term’s first use to 1902. But the working definition is not that simple.

“Someone that your weekly pitching schedule orbits around, that you’re thinking about your bullpen usage leading up to that person pitching where you feel that you can empty your ’pen and know that three days from now this guy is pitching and go into that game each and every turn and have a very legitimate chance of winning,” Friedman said when asked for his definition.

Veteran left-hander David Price has been the identifiable ace of multiple staffs. He adds even more layers to the job description, saying it “absolutely” is more than just the team’s top pitcher.

“Somebody that takes the ball every fifth day,” Price said. “When they don’t have their best stuff you know they’re going to be able to compete and keep the game closer. Whenever they have their A-plus stuff, they go out there and win. But the aces are guys that when they don’t have their best stuff that day, they still go out there and give you six, seven innings of one-run, two-run baseball.”

For all the accomplishments of his first three seasons, Buehler really became that pitcher last season.

With the starting rotation crumbling around him and Julio Urias – Kershaw injured, Trevor Bauer in administrative limbo, Dustin May undergoing Tommy John surgery – Buehler made 33 starts (tied for the major-league lead) and pitched 207-2/3 innings during the regular season (second in the majors). He went at least six innings in 29 of those starts and allowed two runs or fewer 25 times.

In the postseason, he wasn’t as good. But the Dodgers asked him to start on three days’ rest twice.

“I think he’s done a lot of great things. Taking the ball every fifth day the way he has, he’s kind of been the guy for us,” Kershaw said. “It’s been fun to watch (Buehler’s development). More than anything, we just trust him on the mound. That’s big. I think when your team has trust in you, it’s a good feeling and we’re excited to have him out there.”

As three-time Cy Young Award winner Kershaw knows very well, the challenge now is to be that guy again … and again … and again.

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“Consistency is huge,” said Kershaw, who has pitched more than 200 innings five times and made more than 30 starts in a season six times. “Anybody can do it for a few months or even a year, a couple years. But to do for three, four, five, six, seven, eight years is awesome and I expect Walker to do that.”

Only after those years have passed will it really be evident whether Buehler has or has not earned a spot in the lineage of Dodger aces – from Kershaw back through Hershiser and Valenzuela, Drysdale and Koufax.

“I think the baton’s been passed to Walker based on what he did last year – and the year before,” Prior said. “He’s built it. He’s put together his resume – a lot of it because of what he’s done in the playoffs and big moments. I think last year what finally put him in that category is the 30-plus starts. … I think now he’s put himself in that category.

“Let’s put it this way – I think Walker has put himself in the category as one of those top 10 guys in the league with what he’s done the last few years. Whether he’s that arbitrary ‘ace’ or not, he’s one of the best in the game.”