The Phillies released a veteran right-hander Taijuan Walkeraccording to the club’s announcement. Philadelphia also selected a right-hander Alan Rangel to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and missed the right-hander Nolan Hoffman. It looks like it will be another year before today’s game to close out the 26th spot on the list.
Walker, 33, is in the final season of a four-year, $72MM contract that hasn’t worked out quite as well as the team had hoped. It was a surprisingly large contract when he signed the deal. Walker was coming off a solid 29-game showing with the Mets (3.49 ERA, 157 1/3 innings), but his average stats didn’t support that level of run prevention. Walker had a decent season as a starter, going back to the first year of the contract (4.38 ERA, 172 2/3 innings), and posted strong results between the rotation and the bullpen in 2025 again (4.08 ERA, 123 2/3 innings).
The other two seasons of the contract were a nightmare. Walker was one of the most ineffective pitchers in the sport in 2024, producing a 7.10 earned run average in 83 2/3 innings. This season has gone terribly wrong. The veteran righty threw 22 2/3 innings and gave up 25 runs (23 earned) on 36 hits and 11 walks with just 17 strikeouts. He’s serving the second-worst pace of his career — before that disastrous ’24 campaign — and his lowest number of missed at-bats. Between those red flags and a 9.13 ERA, the Phillies were left with little choice but to move forward as they tried to crawl out of an 8-16 hole and snap a nasty eight-game losing streak.
The Phillies will remain responsible for all of Walker’s $18MM salary this season. He still owes more than $15MM of that amount. Any team that signs Walker will only owe him the league minimum amount for any time he spends on the club’s major league roster or injured list. That amount will be subtracted from what the Phillies owe, but they pay a large portion of the tab even in the best of circumstances.
Ace Zack Wheeler will return to the Phillies’ rotation this weekend, though it’s anyone’s guess how he’ll do on the heels of a procedure to deal with thoracic outlet syndrome. He posted a 5.85 ERA in 20 minor league innings, though he had some encouraging numbers: 28% strikeout rate, 6.1% walk rate, 45.1% groundball rate. Wheeler will join last year’s Cy Young runner-up, Christopher Sánchezhigh prospect for the long term Andrew Painterand veterans Aaron Nola again Jesus Luzardo in the rotation of Philadelphia.
In all, Walker ended up with 402 2/3 innings of ball and a 5.12 ERA as a member of the Phillies. He now becomes the second most expensive veteran whose contract the Phillies will successfully acquire this season. Outfielder/designated hitter Nick Castellanos was also cut from the final season of a five-year, $100MM contract just before spring training. He signed with the Padres, hitting .146/.196/.208 in 51 plate appearances. Like Walker, the Phillies are paying most of Castellanos’ $20MM salary. The Padres owe him only the minimum due for any time spent in the majors.
