Phillies: Which free agent starters can fill the rotation
Where do the Phillies stand with their starting rotation going into 2020?
Entering a new year, the Phillies still have holes across the diamond, front the lineup to the bench to the pitching staff.
Jon Heyman of Fancred and MLB Network reports that the Phillies are among several teams still looking for starting pitching, and general manager Matt Klentak acknowledged the team’s desire to add depth this offseason.
Hours before signing with the Blue Jays, Hyun-Jin Ryu was connected to the Phillies. Ryu was the last top of the rotation pitcher available this offseason, leaving the Phillies with only back of the rotation and bounce-back options available.
Heyman laid out several trade candidates for teams looking for pitching, but for the purposes of this piece, we’re going to examine the remaining free agents Philadelphia could sign.
Rich Hill
If the Phillies are to sign Rich Hill they best wait to see if he’s still available midway through the season and attempt a Pedro Martinez-like signing.
Hill, who turns 40 in March, dealt with a flexor strain last season and won’t be ready for the start of the season.
Last year in 13 starts Hill had a 2.45 ERA and since making a comeback as a starter in 2015 has a 2.91 ERA in 87 games, all but one as a starter. Hill also has a 3.06 ERA in the postseason and has allowed only five runs in his last five games.
Hill would be a good insurance option around the All-Star break if no one picks him up and the Phillies should at least keep tabs on him in case of injury or poor performance.
Taijuan Walker
Drafted in the first round by Seattle in 2010, Taijuan Walker was one of the more promising pitching prospects to come through the minor leagues in recent years.
Shipped to Arizona in 2016 for Mitch Haniger and future Phillies Jean Segura and Zac Curtis, Walker hasn’t had the career many hoped to see. MLBPipeline ranked Walker as the fourth-best prospect in baseball in 2012, ahead of Gerrit Cole and Zack Wheeler.
In his first 11 games over two big league seasons, Walker had a 2.89 ERA, a 2:1 K/BB ratio, and an ERA+ of 128. He flirted with several no-hitters while with the Mariners despite dealing with a foot injury that sent him to the injured list multiple times.
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In his first three seasons with the Diamondbacks Walker had a 4.10 ERA, struck out more than three times as many batters as he walked, and allowed about eight hits per appearance. In 2018 he underwent Tommy John surgery after three games, which limited him to only one inning in 2019. Since the start of the 2018 season Walker has appeared in only 14 big league innings for Arizona before they non-tendered him.
Walker would be a tremendous bounce-back candidate, if healthy, and could be a one-year deal candidate for Philadelphia, and they could throw in an option year to go with it. Sliding him in as the fifth starter behind Nola, Wheeler, Arrieta, and Eflin would give the Phillies a promising staff with Velasquez and Pivetta waiting in the wing.
Alex Wood
Former Brave, Dodger, and Reds starter Alex Wood is a back of the rotation stater we highlighted earlier in the offseason as someone the Phillies could sign.
The soon-to-be 29-year-old lefty was the Braves second round pick in 2012 out of the University of Georgia. He arrived in the big leagues less than a year after being drafted and pitched very well in 31 games (mostly in relief) with a 3.13 ERA. Atlanta mixed him in and out of the rotation for a bit, but he made 24 starts the following year with a 2.78 ERA in 35 games.
Philadelphia Phillies
Wood was traded to Los Angeles in a three-team, 13 player trade during the 2015 season. He fought through elbow injuries in 2016 but broke out the following season, winning a league-high 84 percent of his starts. Striking out 152 batters in 151.1 innings, Wood received Cy Young votes and made his first All-Star team with the Dodgers with a 2.72 ERA.
The following year Wood saw his ERA go up almost a full point and won only nine games for Los Angeles. He’d be traded once again in a seven-player deal (which included Yasiel Puig and Matt Kemp) to Cincinnati.
While with the Reds last year Wood battled back stiffness for most of the season, appearing in only seven big league games with a 5.80 ERA. All of his seven starts came in late July and August before he was shut down with the nagging injury.
If healthy Wood is another potential bounce-back candidate for the Phillies to explore. While the Phillies have said they aren’t desperately looking to add a left handed pitcher this offseason, Wood would give them some flexibility and a different look in the rotation.
Honorable Mentions/Minor League Deal Candidates: Ivan Nova, Jerad Eickhoff, Chad Bettis, Jason Vargas, Drew Smyly, Tyson Ross