More than four months into the regular season, the Philadelphia Phillies have finally signed a starting pitcher. Former New York Yankees All-Star Nestor Cortes has fallen on hard times in recent years, but the Phils are hoping he can add a bit of depth to a paper-thin rotation. He’s a fine flier to take, but why did it take the team so long to add any sort of insurance policy? Low-risk options abounded this past offseason, and yet they sat on their hands. Who were some of these guys that the Phillies could have signed months ago to avoid getting into this mess?
Nick Martinez
The Phillies didn’t need to go handing out nine-figure guarantees in order to address the back end of the rotation, so top-tier arms like Dylan Cease, Framber Valdez and old friend Ranger Suarez were never realistic possibilities. However, there still was an All-Star to be had on the cheap.
Swingman Nick Martinez was coming off of a middling 4.45 ERA campaign with the Cincinnati Reds wherein he split his time between starting and relieving. The ever-brilliant Tampa Bay Rays scooped up the veteran on a one-year deal worth $13 million in February, and he’s rewarded them with a fantastic 3.05 ERA across 24 starts en route to his first All-Star berth. Just imagine how many more wins the Phillies would have if Martinez started every fifth game instead of Andrew Painter or Alan Rangel.
Erick Fedde
While Nick Martinez represents the rare home run the Phillies could have hit in free agency, there were still plenty of singles out there, too. From failed first-round pick to Korean sensation, journeyman Erick Fedde has led quite an interesting baseball life.
The longtime Washington National had a solid return to North America in 2024, but his brutal 2025 campaign saw two different clubs cut bait on him. However, everything changed when the Milwaukee Brewers took a shot on him in late August. Fedde finished 2025 with an excellent 3.38 ERA in seven appearances for the Brew Crew, showing he had a bit more left in the tank.
Major league clubs remained skeptical, as Fedde lingered on the open market until mid-February before signing a measly one-year, $1.5 million pact with the Chicago White Sox. He hasn’t kept up the same success he had in Milwaukee, but his 4.33 ERA across 114 ⅓ innings would have saved the Phillies a lot of heartache.
Tomoyuki Sugano
The Phillies have been desperately attempting to break into the Asian market in recent years, chasing after superstars like Yoshinobu Yamamoto to no avail. Considering the only Japanese players to ever wear red pinstripes were bench player So Taguchi and cult hero Tadahito Iguchi, they don’t have much of a track record to sell to foreign stars.
The Phils could start to make inroads with that demographic by reeling in lower-tier players that could help on the margins. One such example would be veteran hurler Tomoyuki Sugano. The 36-year-old came stateside for the first time last season and worked to a mediocre 4.64 ERA in 30 contests for the Baltimore Orioles.
The Phillies could have brought in any number of cheap options to patch up their rotation in offseason
Sugano is one of the most accomplished pitchers in Nippon Professional Baseball history, having earned two MVP Awards, as well as three Sawamura Awards (that league’s version of the Cy Young). He would instantly have raised the Phillies’ credibility in the eyes of Asian players and fans, and he would’ve been a reasonably priced option behind the aging Aaron Nola and untested Andrew Painter.
The Colorado Rockies ended up snagging Sugano on a one-year, $5.1 million pact, and he’s acquitted himself decently well. A 4.70 ERA is far from impressive, but considering the enormous disadvantage he’s at when pitching his home games in hitters’ haven Coors Field, his park-adjusted ERA+ mark sits at 104, four percent better than league average.
Michael Soroka
Former Atlanta Braves phenom Michael Soroka lit the league on fire in his All-Star rookie season back in 2019, but a bevy of injuries have since derailed his once-promising career. The Canadian right-hander appeared in just 10 total contests between 2020 and 2023 and looked all but cooked. He remained semi-healthy over the past two seasons, but was clearly not at the same level he once was.
The pitching-needy Arizona Diamondbacks snagged Soroka for $7.5 million on a one-year agreement this past winter, and he’s looked dominant thus far. A glute strain sidelined him for almost two months this summer, but aside from that he’s worked to a fantastic 2.93 ERA over 92 innings of work. Considering the wonders Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham has worked with plenty of hurlers, it would have been interesting to see what he could have done with Soroka.
Martín Pérez
It’s one thing to pass up on a reclamation project who succeeds elsewhere, but it stings a little bit more when he goes to a division rival. Veteran southpaw Martín Pérez has completely reinvented himself with the Atlanta Braves, who just so happen to be 4.5 games ahead of the Phillies in the division.
Pérez has never been a top-flight starter, but had a 4.41 ERA across 325 games in his 14-year career coming into this season. The one-time All-Star only got into 11 games with the Chicago White Sox in 2025, but did well for himself by posting a 3.54 ERA. Apparently that wasn’t enough to entice big league clubs, as Pérez had to settle for a minor league deal with Atlanta this past offseason.
He’s been a Godsend for a beleaguered Braves pitching staff, tossing 111 ⅓ frames of 3.15 ERA ball for the division leaders. Considering the Phillies’ greatest rivals scooped him up for next to nothing, it’s head-scratching to wonder why they weren’t in on him.
Add us as a preferred source on Google