The Phillies made a roster move between games of their double-header Tuesday, placing Kyle Backhus on the 15-day injured list retroactive to April 27 with left elbow inflammation and selecting Trevor Richards to take his spot.
Richards was already in the organization on a minor league deal, and Philadelphia had an open 40-man roster spot after releasing Taijuan Walker a week earlier. The move gave the club a fresh arm on April 29, 2025, while it sorted through the back end of a staff that had been hit by injuries.
For Richards, the call-up came after he spent most of 2025 in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he posted a 1.93 ERA in 14 innings over nine appearances. He struck out 26 of 50 batters faced, a 52% rate, and walked three, a 6% rate. His results in the minors have not been uniform, though. Across three different clubs in Triple-A this year, he carried a combined 5.19 ERA before settling in with the Phillies’ affiliate.
That split profile is part of the reason he was available. Richards has flashed swing-and-miss stuff before, but his major league track record from 2021 to 2024 has been uneven, with walk and home run problems showing up along the way. In 2025, he already made five big league appearances, three for the Royals and two for the Diamondbacks, and allowed five earned runs in 5 2/3 innings. The Phillies are betting on the version that worked in Lehigh Valley, not the one that has often been vulnerable in the majors.
There is also a practical wrinkle to the move. Richards has at least five years of service time, which means he cannot be optioned without his consent. That gives Philadelphia more than a fill-in arm for one day; it gives the club a pitcher it must carry or keep at the big league level. If Backhus’s elbow issue lingers, Richards may end up being more than a temporary name on the roster.