Philadelphia Phillies still looking to add a big-name starting pitcher?
By David Esser
Despite Dave Dombrowski bringing in the likes of Matt Moore and Chase Anderson, it appears the Philadelphia Phillies are not content with their current starting staff. According to MLB insider Mark Feinsand, the Phils have expressed interest in the likes of free agents Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton, and Taijuan Walker.
The Phillies and Cardinals are each actively looking at free-agent starting pitchers, per sources. Jake Odorizzi, James Paxton and Taijuan Walker are the top remaining starters.
— Mark Feinsand (@Feinsand) February 4, 2021
On a basic level, all three of these arms are worth getting excited about for Phillies fans. Each have the potential to be strong #3/#4 starters on a legit playoff contender.
The Philadelphia Phillies want to add even more starting pitching.
While Odorizzi had a rough 2020 campaign due to injury, he was one of the better pitchers in all of baseball back in 2019. He won 15 games for Minnesota posting a 3.51 ERA, and was nominated to his first career All-Star game. As long as he is fully recovered from his injury woes, he could legitimately push Zach Eflin for the Phillies third starter job, should he be signed.
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An eight year veteran, James Paxton is another starter who struggled this past season. However, like Odorizzi, he was a super reliable arm for the New York Yankees in 2019. He also won 15 games, posting a 3.82 ERA. Outside of his proven track record, Paxton also adds a lefty option to the Phillies rotation, which is still a major need – despite their recent Matt Moore addition.
Easily the most intriguing name to be mentioned in Mark Feinsand’s tweet, Taijuan Walker is coming off a pretty special 2020, and he’s still only 28 years old. Walker has struggled with injuries in the past, but when healthy, he’s proven to be a very good starter. He posted a 1.37 ERA across six starts for the Blue Jays last year, and his collective ERA between 2017 and 2019 for the Diamondbacks was below a 3.50.
According to NBC Sports reporter Jessica Kleinschmidt, the Phillies were also interested in Walker during last year’s offseason. If this is true, then the general assumption is that he would be their preferred option here in 2020. The front office dynamic has obviously switched (Matt Klentak to Dombrowski), but Joe Girardi is still in town, and it’s possible that he’s expressed a desire to work with Walker.
Walker’s younger age compared to Odorizzi and Paxton is also a huge factor to take into account here, as he could potentially become a reliable piece to the Phillies rotation for the next couple of seasons, as opposed to just one or two.
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Ultimately speaking, landing any one of these guys would be a pretty big victory for the Philadelphia Phillies. While they’ve made some small moves to bolster up their rotational depth, they could use a legit, reliable arm towards the back of the rotation. All three of the mentioned names would provide that – seriously boosting the Phillies’ odds at cracking the postseason here in 2021.