Taijuan Walker Needs a Rotation Replacement, Who Can It Be?

It has become no secret, through two starts this season, that Taijuan Walker is struggling. He is giving up a lot of hits, not hitting all his spots, letting guys on base, and, worst of all, giving up runs.

His first start of the season against the Washington Nationals, he gave up 4 runs in the first inning, leading to a 13-2 loss, where his box score was 4.2 innings pitched, 7 runs allowed (6 earned), and 2 strikeouts while allowing 13 on base. His next start, Easter Sunday against the Rockies, was not that much better. In 5 innings, he allowed 4 runs, struck out 4, and allowed 9 Rockies to get on base. Through 2 starts, Walker is 0-2 with a 9.31 ERA in just 9.2 innings pitched.

It has become egregiously clear that Walker cannot stick around in the rotation. Hopefully, Zack Wheeler returns at the estimated time, which, as of right now, is projected to be later this month. This is going to put Walker back in the bullpen, which he did not perform poorly in last season and very well might function decently in this season, and Walker going back into the bullpen once Wheeler returns has always been the plan. So there’s no issue with that.

The issue is whether the Phillies need a backup starter, a fireman, to go into the rotation to cover any smoke that may rise throughout the season. Right now, that fireman, who will be tasked to go and clear whatever is seeping from the rotation, is Walker. However, it has become obvious that he is not a trustworthy arm to take up that role. And in an era of baseball where it is common for organizations to need 7-9 starting pitchers to get through a season, not even including the gun show that is the postseason, the Phillies must look for a better arm to come in if an emergency arises from the rotation.

This is not a new issue, either. It was a concern during Spring Training, when President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski acknowledged the team was exploring depth options for the rotation. What followed, however, was a familiar outcome: no significant move was made. This has left the team in a bind; the options available through free agency are fewer than during Spring Training, both in quality and quantity.

Granted, there are options the Phillies have within the organization. Tucker Davidson and Jean Cabrera seem like two of the most likely options to get a chance. Alan Rangel was up with the Major League bullpen last year and is currently in the Lehigh Valley IronPigs rotation, so he’s also an option. However, none of these pitchers are really good options for the immediate fireman role that Walker holds right now. Davidson has not performed well in the Major Leagues throughout his career. Rangel did perform well last year; however, it was only out of the bullpen, and this fireman role requires the pitcher in the rotation, so you would basically be throwing a debuting pitcher. Cabrera would be a fun option because if he got called up, that would be his debut in the Majors, a debuting pitcher is not a valid option for your 6th man in the rotation, similar to why Alan Rangel is not a great option. It seems much better for the team to look into the free agent market for options to bring in, even with the market not having the same level of quality and quantity that it did during Spring Training.

So who could be options?

Lucas Giolito

Giolito is far and away the best pitcher still available on the free agent market, and the fact that he has yet to be signed is an indictment of Major League Baseball.

Giolito is coming off a season with the Boston Red Sox where he threw to a 3.41 ERA in 145 innings pitched, and in his career, he has been in the top 10 of Cy Young voting twice. He is only entering his age 31 season, and would provide an instant upgrade to the fireman role of starting pitching depth. With the fact that he is still a free agent, especially since we are now 2 weeks into the regular season, it is possible that Giolito would be willing to take a cheaper Minor League deal, with the expectation of either getting Major League time this season, in that fireman depth role that Walker holds right now, or at least performing in the minors to increase his value so he can get a deal next off-season. If the latter were the case, that would mean a scenario that would cause Walker to return to the rotation doesn’t happen, so Walker stays in the bullpen, and Giolito gains value in the minors while the MLB rotation performs without any smoke rising and without the need for any firemen.

The issue with Giolito, however, is simply the fact that he is the best free agent starter available. He will command the most money, would be the least likely to accept a Minor League deal, and is probably on the radar of several teams, including World Series contenders. So while Giolito gives you the highest ceiling, he’s also the least likely to sign with the Phillies.

Tyler Anderson

Anderson is a 35-year-old left-hander who has spent the last 3 seasons with the Los Angeles Angels. He’s coming off a season where he pitched to a 4.56 ERA in 136.1 innings. He is a very experienced player, debuting with the Colorado Rockies back in 2016. He has had several successful seasons throughout his Major League career, and has even tacked on 2 All-Star appearances, including as recently as 2024.

He also, due to his age and performance last season not jumping off the page, would probably be an arm a lot more willing to sign a cheap Minor League deal. The issue with Anderson is simply the fact that he’s 35 years old and didn’t go through Spring Training, so what could already be an issue of performance given his age could be even more of an issue due to starting late.

Nestor Cortes

Cortes is an experienced lefty, he’s 31 years old, and is coming off, to put it nicely, a bad 2025 season that could give him motivation to take a cheap Minor League deal to build back value. Cortes has performed well in the past, namely in 2021 and 2022, where he pitched to a sub 3 ERA both seasons with the New York Yankees. That 2022 season, he actually ended up finishing top-10 in the Cy Young vote.

The reason he’d be looking for a cheap opportunity to bounce back is because even though he helped the Yankees get to the World Series in 2024, he got moved out of the rotation into the bullpen, gave up a walk-off grand slam to Freddie Freeman in game 1, then followed that up with a 2025 where he pitched to a 9.00 ERA with the Milwaukee Brewers, and a 5.47 ERA with the San Diego Padres. Cortes’ issue, in short, is the fact that he’s coming off a horrific season, and ended 2024 with a target on his back in New York, so he has a lot of baggage with him that could cause more deterioration in play. Or, being further removed from that bitter World Series and getting a restart in the minors could be fruitful for Cortes to return to the similar player he was in 2021 and 2022.

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The core issue here is the fact that there are clear flaws in the players the Phillies could bring in through free agency, and outside of the names already mentioned, the remaining talent on the market is, at best, comparable to the two lefties, if not worse. Of course, there are other routes the Phillies could take to address the issue, whether that’s trading for low-cost talent such as John Means from the Kansas City Royals, or calling up arms already in the minors like Tucker Davidson, Jean Cabrera, or Alan Rangel. The Phillies could also look beyond the traditional free agent market, targeting experienced arms pitching in the independent circuit or overseas.

The point is not necessarily the individual names themselves, but the fact that these are even part of the conversation. Even when narrowing the focus strictly to realistic options, it highlights just how much this team is in need of starting pitching depth. As well as the effect of waiting until now to solve the issue, as opposed to solving it back in Spring Training.

Not every issue needs to be solved immediately, and not every concern will persist throughout the season. But starting pitching depth—particularly the need for a reliable option to stabilize the rotation—is one that is likely to remain. It is a problem that can be addressed now, and one that will only become more difficult to solve as the season progresses toward August.

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