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Blue Jays Trade Josh Walker To Phillies

By Anthony Franco | May 29, 2025 at 9:11pm CDT

The Phillies announced the acquisition of lefty reliever Josh Walker from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Philadelphia has had a free 40-man roster spot since José Alvarado was suspended. They optioned Walker to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, so no additional move was necessary.

Toronto had designated Walker for assignment earlier in the week. An injury to backup catcher Tyler Heineman forced the Jays to select Ali Sánchez to pair with Alejandro Kirk. That required a 40-man roster move and squeezed Walker off the depth chart. The 6’6″ southpaw had been on optional assignment and pitching in Triple-A for most of this month.

Walker had a brief stay on Toronto’s MLB roster earlier in the year. He made three appearances and allowed four runs over five innings. He struck out eight against two walks while relying primarily on a mid-80s curveball. Walker backs up that breaking pitch with both a four-seam and two-seam fastball that typically land in the 93-94 MPH range.

A product of the University of New Haven, Walker entered the professional ranks as a 37th-round draft choice by the Mets in 2017. He overcame that lack of prospect pedigree to get to the majors in 2023. Walker hasn’t had much success against big league hitters, tallying a combined 6.59 earned run average through 27 1/3 frames. He has pitched well up through the Double-A level, though his Triple-A results are more mixed.

Walker carries a 4.45 ERA with an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate over parts of five seasons at the top minor league level. He has struggled there in the early going, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and seven walks through his first 10 innings this season. He has managed 16 strikeouts on only 51 batters faced, however, which is presumably a selling point for Philadelphia.

Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks are each pitching well in Rob Thomson’s bullpen. They were the only two lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Walker is in his last option year and can bounce between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley for the remainder of the season.

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Philadelphia Phillies Toronto Blue Jays Transactions Josh Walker

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View Comments (14)
Post a Comment

14 Comments

  1. Boston’s Alignment

    2 months ago

    Braves usually cycle through discarded former Mets. What’s going on here?

    1
    Reply
    • carlos15

      2 months ago

      The Mets like to scramble all season for lefty relievers and then during the offseason ignore every lefty available free agent. Then repeat the cycle.

      Reply
  2. St.Philly

    2 months ago

    I’d rather the Phils try Scott Alexander

    1
    Reply
  3. DarkSide830

    2 months ago

    Phillies had, at last check, 1 total lefty at AAA. Certainly could use the depth.

    5
    Reply
  4. LFGMets (Metsin7) #BannedAgain&Again&AgainFireStearns

    2 months ago

    Josh Walker is the worst reliever that I’ve ever seen. I remember he loaded up the bases vs the Royals 2 years ago and balked in the winning run

    2
    Reply
    • Bart Harley Jarvis

      2 months ago

      Walkoff balk, most exciting play in sports!

      5
      Reply
      • Boston’s Alignment

        2 months ago

        Balk off!

        3
        Reply
        • Steinbrenner2728

          2 months ago

          “Balk off!”

          That’s probably the message one sees when they get banned “again&again&again”

          Reply
  5. Jacksson13

    2 months ago

    Shouldn’t SPOCK rightfully be the one paired with KIRK ??

    2
    Reply
    • David Kupsick

      2 months ago

      Eye Captain

      1
      Reply
      • philliesphan77

        2 months ago

        Now there’s a Captain of Eyes??!

        Reply
    • Captain Dunsel

      2 months ago

      That seems logical.

      Reply
  6. sad tormented neglected mariners fan

    2 months ago

    Oh my it’s the next Roy Halliday

    Reply
  7. CTS4

    2 months ago

    Throw in the lackie atkins , make it a fair trade……!

    1
    Reply

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