The D-backs were hit with a significant blow on Wednesday, as manager Torey Lovullo revealed to reporters that right-hander Taijuan Walker has a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will require Tommy John surgery (Twitter link via Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic). Walker will be out for the remainder of the 2018 season.
Clearly, it’s a huge loss for a D-backs team that watched Walker, long heralded as one of MLB’s most promising pitching prospects, break out with a 3.49 ERA, 8.4 K/9, 3.5 BB/9, 0.97 HR/9 and a 48.9 percent ground-ball rate in 157 1/3 innings last season. The 25-year-old Walker has averaged 27 starts per season over the past three years between the Mariners and D-backs, but Arizona was counting on him taking an even more pivotal role in 2018, joining Zack Greinke, Robbie Ray, Patrick Corbin and Zack Godley in what looked to be one of the National League’s more formidable starting quintets.
[Related: Arizona Diamondbacks depth chart]
Matt Koch will start in Walker’s place on Friday, tweets Zach Buchanan of The Athletic, but he tossed just 56 innings last season and doesn’t have any sort of big league track record. Arizona thinned out its rotation depth in the March trade that saw left-hander Anthony Banda — a largely MLB-ready rotation piece — head to the Rays in the three-team Steven Souza / Brandon Drury swap. Former first-rounder Braden Shipley is still on hand in Triple-A as a potential option, as is recent waiver claim Troy Scribner.
Walker’s injury will now put the recovery of right-hander Shelby Miller under even more of a microscope. The embattled righty struggled through a catastrophic first season in the Diamondbacks organization but looked to be in the process of righting the ship in 2017 before he, too, suffered a UCL tear that necessitated Tommy John surgery. The 27-year-old Miller has yet to pitch in the minors as he continues rehabbing from his own operation, performed early last May, but he could emerge as a viable fifth starter for a talented D-backs rotation at some point in June or July.
The D-backs still control Walker through the 2020 season, and given his reasonable $4.825MM salary as a second-time arbitration player (with Super Two status), the ligament replacement procedure is unlikely to spell the end of his time with the D-backs. Walker’s limited workload in 2018 — he made just three starts and totaled 13 innings — should limit him to a minimal raise in arbitration this offseason. The D-backs will be able to hang onto him for something in the vicinity of $5MM, and while Walker almost certainly won’t be ready to take the hill until at least next May, if not early summer, that’s an eminently reasonable price to pay — especially when considering that he could still be controlled for one year beyond the ’19 campaign.
The TJ epidemic continues. Get well soon.
Ah crap, literally the worst case scenario for him and the sneks.
Na worst case torn labrum. (Like 2 years to get back 100%)
Torn Capsule in shoulder wud probably be a career-killer
There is a TJ epidemic, sure, but TJ surgery still has a 90% success rate. Just Sucks, losing him for a year :/
90%? By what study and what standards.
I’ll just leave this comment here so all the resident comment dislikers dislike this comment!
Honesty..is such a lonely word
You know you’re in trouble when Troy Scribner is mentioned second in terms of potential replacements.
All those off day golf sessions really paying off.
Dang that’s rough. Never like to see a guy going under the knife, especially for TJS. Get well soon.
Mariners have officially won this trade
Unless segura flames out in the next few years. Still owe him a pretty good sum of cash. Been worth it so far though.
Haniger looks good too
You’re forgetting Haniger……Also when Walker comes back he’ll only have prob 1 more year of control and then he’s a free agent so unless Ketel Marte becomes a Super Star then i think M’s prob win the trade.
Talented kid, still young. Wish him the best.
Blah!
My fantasy tho :(
That’s too bad
Tough luck for him. Hated to see him go but like what we got in return. Hope he heals fast and gets back to what he was.
that’s too bad for TW. Poor kid has always had so much potential that just hasn’t been reached. I hope he comes back stronger than ever, maybe late next season.
Reach out to the Braves for either Julio Tehrean or aim a little lower for Brandon McCarthy. They would keep you in the hunt and can slot into the 4-5 range. Wouldn’t have to break the bank in trade capital.
Thoughts?
So basically the pendulum swings in the Mariners favor. It still may be a little premature to say Seattle won that trade, but Segura was extended and Haniger looks promising and now Walker is going to be out for a year. Good thing Ketel Marte is still around. I hope Walker comes back as quick as possible and both teams end up winning the trade in the long run, because that’s how it was looking so far. At this moment in time though it’s looking like the M’s got the better deal.