The Philadelphia Phillies are figuring out what they are going to do in their rotation next season.

After Taijuan Walker was a disaster throughout the 2024 campaign, they kept trying different pitchers to see if someone could take over that fifth spot, but no one they turned to could cement themselves as a real option.

It didn’t necessarily hurt them, even though they likely would have finished with the best record in the MLB with even an average starter, but the Phillies know they can’t operate like that next year.

Superstar prospect Andrew Painter will be called up at some point, but because he’s still making his way back from Tommy John surgery, he will have a pitch and innings limit that makes him hard to rely on as the answer.

Garrett Crochet continues to be rumored as someone Philadelphia is going to go after this winter as part of a blockbuster trade, but the Chicago White Sox seem to overvalue their players in terms of asking price which could ultimately prevent something from getting done.

Because of that, Walker is going to have an opportunity in Spring Training to win his starting spot.

One of the main reasons for that is the amount of money that he’s still owed over the next two seasons, prompting Joel Reuter of Bleacher Report to list the right-hander as someone who has one of the worst contracts in Major League Baseball.

The $36 million owed to him over the next two years is not ideal, especially considering he can’t be trusted to even pitch one or two innings in relief as an expensive bullpen option.

Best-case scenario would be Walker returns to his previous All-Star form and he can give the Phillies good innings whenever he’s called upon, perhaps being utilized in a six-man rotation to take some stress off the arms of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola before the playoffs begin.

It’s not a given that will happen, though.

Walker has lost major velocity on his fastball and his splitter doesn’t have the action needed to get big league hitters out at a consistent rate, so unless something drastically changes on that front, the results in 2025 will likely look similar to what occurred this past season.

But, there is a bit of hope.

Walker wasn’t healthy when he entered Spring Training and dealt with personal issues that caused him to miss some time that would have otherwise gotten him ready for the start of the season.

If that’s not the case this time around, then he could have a better chance of performing better.

Still, it’s not a great situation Philadelphia has found themselves in with one of their players being viewed as someone who has one of the worst contracts in the sport.