Phillies 'Discussing' Potential Pursuit of Veteran Starting Pitcher

The Philadelphia Phillies could be in the market for another starting pitcher, with the veteran Taijuan Walker dealing with a right shoulder impingement. 

Matt Gelb of The Athletic reported Sunday that Walker felt he wasn’t getting the proper zip on his pitches and could throw next week. However, he’ll open up the regular season on the injured list.

With Walker out for the foreseeable future, Philadelphia will turn to Spencer Turnbull to take his spot in the starting rotation, who they signed to a one-year contract in the offseason. Turnbull is having a good Spring Training for the Phillies (3.60 ERA in three appearances), but it remains to be seen if he can carry that momentum into the regular season.

That said, the Phillies are “internally discussing” the idea of pursuing free-agent starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery, per USA TODAY’s Bob Nightengale. Nightengale adds that no decision has been made on whether the Phillies plan to contact Montgomery’s representation (Scott Boras).

Montgomery is the lone big-name free agent left on the market, as J.D. Martinez and Blake Snell have found new homes over the past week. The 31-year-old southpaw is coming off a fantastic 2023 season where he became a postseason star with the Texas Rangers.

After a phenomenal postseason, there was a belief that Montgomery would be one of the first free agents to sign a deal. However, that hasn’t been the case despite the veteran pitcher being linked to multiple teams over the last few months.

Would Phillies fans love for the team to go after Montgomery? Yes. But it’s more likely that the team will wait and see how things go with Turnbull and Cristopher Sanchez at the bottom of the rotation.

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