The holiday season is upon us and the Phillies continue to add to their bullpen.
The club announced Monday that it signed right-handed reliever Zach Pop to a one-year deal.
Pop, 29, endured an injury-riddled 2025 season and spent time with three organizations. He was shut down in March with elbow discomfort and released by Toronto in early April.
Pop later signed a Minor League deal with Seattle, earned a call-up, then struggled out of the gate — allowing 11 earned runs in 6 2/3 innings — before being designated for assignment. He elected free agency and signed with the Mets, but made just one appearance before being DFA’d again in July.
Prior to last season, Pop produced mostly below-average results across stints with Miami and Toronto, posting a 4.45 ERA over 158 appearances.
Pop features a three-pitch mix — sinker, slider and cutter — and generates ground balls at a high rate. In 2025, his groundball percentage sat at 54.5 percent, driven by a 96.4 mph average sinker.
His best stretch came in 2022. Pop opened that season with Miami, posting a 3.60 ERA in 18 appearances before being dealt to Seattle in a four-player trade. With the Mariners, he allowed just four earned runs across 19 innings. The underlying numbers backed it up: a 39.3 percent chase rate, a 2.5 percent walk rate and a 5.6 percent barrel rate.
Pop profiles as a pitch-to-contact arm who is most effective when he’s living at the bottom of the zone and inducing soft contact.
It’s another low-risk addition for Dave Dombrowski and the front office. Pop becomes the 39th player on the Phillies’ 40-man roster. He does not have any Minor League options remaining and will compete for a bullpen spot this spring.