What if I told you that a pitcher that was picked up off the scrap heap at the end of the season to provide innings to a staff that could be described as beleaguered at the time and would end up finishing top ten on the team in WAR? Would you believe that that was the story of the Phillies pitching staff towards the end of the season?
Would you believe that it was Jose Urquidy?
2026 stats
2 G (1 GS), 7 1/3 IP, 9 K, 0 BB, 3 R (3 ER), 10 H, 0.4 fWAR
What went right
Listen, being brought in off the waiver
wire at the end of the year to give the team a bulk outing and a start in the final week of the season isn’t easy. You’re expected to be effective enough that the team would want to keep you in the game long enough to save other more valuable arms, but also so that the team might actually have a chance at winning a game mostly assumed to be a loss.
Urquidy did just that though. Facing a Mets team in a game that the Phillies kind of had to win, he was the bulk guy in a September 18th start in which he threw 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball. He struck out six, scattered five hits and kept the Phillies in the game long enough that they could make something of a run. The problem was that Tim Mayza essentially salted the game away early by being an opener that couldn’t get anyone out. Urquidy earned a start for the team in the final week that wasn’t all that great, but hey – baseball seasons are long and sometimes, unexpected performances are needed. At that time, Urquidy gave them an unexpected performance that they really needed.
What went wrong
He kind of stunk in his only scheduled start and showed why he was on the scrap heap in the first place.
Final grade: B
Listen, I’m not going to fault a guy for being rough in these kinds of circumstances. Asking Urquidy to do anything was nigh impossible, yet he looked serviceable in both of his appearances. He’s not going to be a member of the 2027 Phillies unless he somehow gets a minor league deal and decides to ply his trade in Lehigh Valley for half a year, but at the very least, we have this.
Now you have a permanent answer for an Immaculate Grid square.
