As the Philadelphia Phillies gear up for spring training, with pitchers and catchers reporting on Wednesday, the team heads to Clearwater, Florida with an obvious flaw in the roster. While they'll arrive at camp with a vast amount of relief pitching depth, like a ridiculous amount, their starting pitching depth is comically shallow.
While president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski and the rest of the front office spent the winter stockpiling bullpen arms, they seem to have forgotten about the rotation. With question marks around Zack Wheeler's return date, the Phillies will most likely be relying on Taijuan Walker and prospect Andrew Painter to round out the starting five come Opening Day.
But what about after that? There's not much there if any of the starters run into injury trouble during spring training, or even once we're into the regular season. The Phillies really need to beef up their starting depth, and while they won't be going after the biggest names left on the board, there are still plenty of cheap free agents out there that Dombrowski and company can invite to camp for a look this spring.
Here are 3 free agents who can help build Phillies' starting depth in spring training
Walker Buehler, RHP
Phillies fans are more than familiar with right-hander Walker Buehler after watching him pitch over the final month of the 2025 season. While he was a disaster in Boston, he impressed in Philadelphia after signing in late August but has yet to sign with a team for 2026.
The 31-year-old appeared in three games (two starts) in September, going 3-0 with a 0.66 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP in 13 2/3 innings. The Phillies took him to the postseason but didn't lean on his layoff experience, not using him once in the NLDS. This would be a high-upside play for Dombrowski, although there's a good chance Buehler will get an MLB contract before all is said and done, so he might be out of the Phillies' price range.
Griffin Canning, RHP
Right-hander Griffin Canning was a standout in the New York Mets rotation early in 2025, going 7-3 in 16 starts with a 3.77 ERA. Unfortunately for the 29-year-old, his season ended with a ruptured left Achilles tendon in late June.
On his way back to full health, Canning is trying to find a home for 2026. He recently threw for teams at UCLA, reportedly hitting 93 mph on the radar gun, according to The Athletic's Will Sammon. The Phillies aren't one of the teams known to be interested in Canning, but he'd be a great option to have.
Canning could land either a minor league contract with an invitation to spring training or a cheap one-year "prove-it" major league deal after his abbreviated season. If he wants a MLB agreement, the Phils are probably out. Another problem is that he might not even be ready for Opening Day.
Germán Márquez, RHP
Germán Márquez struggled in 2025 in the first full season back from Tommy John surgery. He made 26 starts for the Colorado Rockies, going 3-16 with a 6.70 ERA, the worst full campaign of his career. It didn't help that the Rockies were a historically hapless bunch and neither did the biceps tendinitis in July that derailed his season.
Up until going under the knife in 2023, Márquez had an impressive career 4.41 ERA in eight seasons in Colorado. While he didn't log many strikeouts in 2025 (5.91 K/9), he posted 8.71 K/9 and 2.68 BB/9 with a 48.5 percent ground ball rate from 2016 to 2023. He'll turn 30 later this month and will be looking for a team to give him a chance as a reclamation project.