Philadelphia has signed right-handed pitcher Walker Buehler to a minor league contract, making him eligible for postseason play. Buehler will report to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and is scheduled to make one start before joining the Phillies’ major league roster on September 12.
President of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski outlined that the team plans to move to a six-man rotation, giving starters extra rest during the final stretch of the season. “He’s happy with the plan,” Dombrowski said. “We’re happy with the plan. And we’re very excited to have him because we think he makes us better and puts us in a position where we’re trying to do anything we can to qualify for the postseason and then, if we can make it, to do anything we can to win.”
Buehler previously signed a one-year, $21.05 million deal with Boston but posted a 7-7 record with a 5.45 ERA over 23 games before being released last week. After being moved from Boston’s starting rotation to the bullpen on August 22, he made only one relief appearance against New York before being released.
Buehler joins a Philadelphia pitching staff that includes Cristopher Sánchez, Ranger Suárez, Aaron Nola, Jesús Luzardo and Taijuan Walker. The Phillies recently lost Zack Wheeler for the remainder of the season due to venous thoracic outlet syndrome requiring surgery (https://www.mlb.com/phillies/news/zack-wheeler-out-for-remainder-of-2025-season).
“Buehler is obviously extremely experienced,” Luzardo said. “He’s got a lot of talent and obviously pitched in World Series games and won it before. It’s always nice to have a guy with experience like that. I’ve heard nothing but good things about him, so we’re excited about that.”
This year marks career lows for Buehler in several categories: his strikeout percentage is at 16.6%, while his walk rate is at its highest since his rookie year at 10.7%. He also recorded career worsts in strikeouts per nine innings (6.7), strikeout-to-walk ratio (4.4), and home runs allowed (22) as of this season.
“This year hasn’t been as good for him as some other years, but we still like a lot of his stuff,” Dombrowski said. “We think we see some things that can hopefully help him. He’s willing to work with us.”
The Phillies are responsible for paying Buehler one month of minimum salary ($760,000); Boston will cover the rest of his contract.
Dombrowski noted it remains undecided whether Buehler could join Philadelphia’s postseason rotation or pitch out of the bullpen in October: “Let’s see how we’re performing, how everybody’s throwing the ball at that time,” Dombrowski said. “Right now, our starters, they feel good. They feel fine. Of course, Nola hasn’t pitched many innings. But we just want to be careful because you have a chance to get tired down the stretch. It’s worked for us to go to the six starters, and we think he’s a pretty good sixth starter.”
In addition on Sunday, Philadelphia claimed left-handed reliever Tim Mayza off waivers from Pittsburgh after he posted a 2.89 ERA across seven appearances this season.
