Phillies sign Pop

The Phillies have signed Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.)

December 23, 2025

By Kevin Glew

Canadian Baseball Network

The Philadelphia Phillies have signed right-hander Zach Pop (Brampton, Ont.) to a major league contract.

The club announced the transaction on Monday.

Pop split the 2025 season between four different major league organizations.

He spent spring training with the Toronto Blue Jays before he was shelved with elbow discomfort and then subsequently released and signed by Seattle Mariners. He made just four relief appearances for the M’s and 11 more in their minors before he was let go on July 2.

Three days later, he was signed by the New York Mets where he was roughed up for three runs in 1 1/3 innings in his sole appearance with them prior to be released.

The 6-foot-4 right-hander was then signed to a minor league contract by the Chicago Cubs on July 22 where he made nine relief appearances with triple-A Iowa to close out the season.

Despite making only five big league appearances in 2025, Pop was a durable reliever in previous seasons. In 2024, he made a career-high 58 relief appearances for the Blue Jays. It was his third season with the Blue Jays after being acquired from the Miami Marlins on August 2, 2022.

Selected in the 23rd round by the Blue Jays out of Notre Dame Secondary School in Brampton, Ont., in 2014, Pop opted not to sign and headed to the University of Kentucky.

After three collegiate campaigns with the Wildcats, he was chosen in the seventh round of the 2017 MLB draft by the Los Angeles Dodgers. He had five scoreless outings in Rookie ball for the Dodgers that year and allowed just one run in 19 games out of the bullpen in High-A the ensuing campaign before he was dealt to the Baltimore Orioles as part of the package for Manny Machado that July.

Pop spent parts of two seasons in the O’s organization before he was taken by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Rule 5 draft in December 2020. The D-Backs then flipped him to the Marlins. He spent the entire 2021 season in the big leagues with the Marlins, finishing with a 1-0 record and a 4.12 ERA in 51 appearances, while striking out 51 batters in 54 2/3 innings.

In total, in parts of five major league seasons, Pop, 29, owns an 8-6 record and a 4.88 ERA in 163 relief appearances.