Philadelphia Phillies' Best Starting Pitching Option is Clear as Day

The Philadelphia Phillies apparently want to add another starting pitcher, but this week, the market for arms shrunk considerably.

Justin Verlander, Jose Quintana, Aaron Civale and Chris Paddack all signed on Tuesday, with the Phillies missing out on all of them.

Verlander was far too expensive for a Philadelphia squad watching its payroll like a hawk, and even Quintana, Civale and Paddack proved to be too costly for the Phillies.

At this point, there aren't a whole lot of pitchers left that make sense for Philadelphia.

Zac Gallen will obviously be too expensive, and you have to figure that a veteran like Chris Bassitt will be, as well.

So what about Walker Buehler?

Buehler had a cup of coffee with the Phillies last season, as Philadelphia signed him late in the year after he was released by the Boston Red Sox.

The 31-year-old made three appearances and two starts for the Phillies, allowing just one run on 10 hits over 13.2 innings of work.

It was a small sample size for sure, as Buehler posted a 4.93 ERA across 26 outings an 24 starts on the 2025 campaign as a whole, but he at least has some experience in Philly, and he would come cheap.

There was a time when Buehler was one of the better pitchers in all of baseball. He broke into the big leagues with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2017 and made a pair of All-Star appearances early on, finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2021.

After that, however, injuries derailed Buehler, who has made a grand total of 54 starts over the last four years.

In fact, 2025 was the first season since 2021 that Buehler even threw 100 innings or made 20 starts. But now that he's healthy, it would be smart to give the right-hander another shot in Philadelphia for some extra rotation depth.

The Phillies lost Ranger Suarez to free agency and will be starting 2026 without Zack Wheeler, who is recovering from thoracic outlet syndrome. Beyond Cristopher Sanchez and Jesus Luzardo, Philadelphia's starting rotation is full of questions. Aaron Nola was terrible last year, Taijuan Walker is pedestrian and Andrew Painter is entirely unproven.

The Phillies could definitely afford to add another arm, and right now, Buehler presents the most feasible option for them.

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