The Phillies used a group effort to bring Walker Buehler into the fold

Lochlahn March, The Philadelphia Inquirer on Sep 12, 2025

Published in Baseball

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After Walker Buehler was released from the Boston Red Sox two weeks ago, he fielded many calls from other teams checking in on his status.

But none of those teams put their general manager, manager, and pitching coach all together on the call to entice him to sign. None, that is, except the Phillies.

“I think a lot of the times the (designated for assignment) process is done over the phone between an agent and one guy in the org, right?” Buehler said. “And so for us to have a phone call at all, and for those guys to take time out of their day on it, was huge; kind of a confidence boost for me, or whatever you might call it.”

Buehler signed a minor-league deal with the Phillies on Aug. 29 and joined the team at Citizens Bank Park on Thursday. He will be called up officially on Friday to make his Phillies debut in a start against the Kansas City Royals.

Buehler, 31, said Thursday that he also based his decision on the potential role he would have with a new club along with the competitiveness of the team. The Phillies, who plan to use Buehler as the sixth member of their rotation, checked both of those boxes.

It also helped that he has a history with Phillies pitching coach Caleb Cotham. Both pitched at Vanderbilt.

Buehler threw the final pitch to clinch the 2024 World Series for the Dodgers, the team that had drafted him in 2015. He joined the Red Sox in free agency in the offseason, but prolonged struggles culminated in him losing his spot in Boston’s rotation and getting released on Aug. 29. Buehler has a 5.45 ERA and 1.56 WHIP and walked 55 batters over 112⅓ innings this season.

He hopes with this change of scenery, he can replicate the turnaround he had in 2024, his first season back after undergoing his second Tommy John surgery. Buehler had a disappointing 2024 regular season with Los Angeles, pitching to a 5.38 ERA in 16 starts, but he transformed during the playoffs.

He made three scoreless appearances across the National League Championship Series and World Series, including the ninth inning of Game 5 to clinch the title.

“It’s very similar in the fact that I [stunk] all year and then trying to figure it out at the end,” Buehler said. “And it is what it is. If I can put together four or five good starts, we’ll be in a good spot. At the end of the day, I think this team is talented enough to do it, whether I’m good or bad. … However much I can contribute, I will.”

He was encouraged by his results in his tuneup outing last week at triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he allowed one run, three walks, and struck out five over three innings.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve punched out more guys than I threw innings, so that was a positive thing,” he said. “ … I felt pretty encouraged. I felt like, in terms of the mechanic stuff that we were kind of working on, we were able to stay in that pretty good.”

Buehler said that he had conversations to join the Phillies this year in free agency before ultimately landing in Boston. Now, as he pursues his third World Series title, he thinks he’s in the right spot.

“The talent is immense. The culture is really good. I think you have a lot of guys pulling on the same string. And in my experience, that’s a big part of it,” Buehler said. “I think culture is a big part of it. I think you have a lot of guys on this team that are very comfortable with their career and their role, in terms of ‘Whatever I need to do to help us win one, I will do,’ which isn’t always the case. Not every team is like that.

“I think all in all, talent is one of the biggest factors in who wins at the end, and I think this team here is certainly talented enough.”

Plans for Painter

Top prospect Andrew Painter had a bounceback outing with five scoreless innings for Lehigh Valley on Wednesday. He allowed three hits, struck out six, and walked zero against Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. Walks had been an issue for Painter so far this season, as he averages 3.6 walks per nine innings.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he watched tape of the outing.

“It was a lot better than he’s been,” he said. “Fastball command was a lot better. The stuff was really, really good.”

Painter will make his final start for Lehigh Valley on Wednesday, when he is targeted for five innings. After that, Thomson said it’s possible Painter will join the “stay-ready camp” to stay sharp in case he is needed as potential postseason depth, but no official decision has been made yet.

Extra bases

Buehler (7-7, 5.45 ERA) is scheduled to start Friday’s series opener against Kansas City right-hander Michael Lorenzen (5-10, 4.63 ERA). As a member of the Phillies in 2023, Lorenzen threw the franchise’s 14th no-hitter on Aug. 9.

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