Taijuan Walker will make his return to the Phillies’ rotation on Thursday against the Mets, manager Rob Thomson told reporters (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Philadelphia had moved the veteran righty to the bullpen at the end of August.
Walker made three relief appearances. He gave up two runs in three innings against the Blue Jays on September 3 and surrendered three runs in two innings to the Marlins four days later. Walker is coming off a better showing on Saturday, when he held the Mets scoreless over three frames. In total, he has allowed five runs (four earned) with only two strikeouts in eight innings since the bullpen move.
That’s not exactly a dominant performance, but the Phils haven’t had a better answer for the fifth starter role. Tyler Phillips, Seth Johnson and Kolby Allard each got one look in the #5 rotation spot. Phillips didn’t make it out of the first inning and gave up six runs against Toronto. Johnson allowed nine runs and didn’t get through the third inning versus Miami in his MLB debut. The Mets tagged Allard for four runs over three innings on Saturday. Johnson and Phillips have already been optioned back to Triple-A; Matt Gelb of the Athletic tweets that Allard will move to the bullpen.
Philadelphia’s fifth starter role has been a mess since Spencer Turnbull suffered a lat strain in June. Walker has a 6.50 earned run average across 14 starts. Cameos for Michael Mercado and the aforementioned trio of Phillips, Johnson and Allard have yielded disastrous results.
Fortunately, that shouldn’t be a big deal in the postseason. Thomson can cut down to his excellent top four of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. Walker should return to the bullpen in October if he makes the playoff roster. An injury to any of Philadelphia’s top four starters would make things a lot less comfortable, but they’re trending towards a first-round bye with the kind of high-end rotation talent they can rely upon in the postseason.
For now, Walker will have a couple chances to try to finish the regular season on a high note. After Thursday’s start in Queens, he’ll be lined up for a home outing against the Cubs. The Phils only need to turn to their fifth starter twice more in the regular season. They could try to line Walker up for the final start against Washington on September 29 if they’re already locked into the #1 or 2 seed in the National League and want to give an extra day of rest to their projected postseason rotation.
Looks like battery sales will be going up again.
As well as stupid comments.
Is it normal to miss 3 months with a lat strain? Or is Spencer Turnbull just one of those guys who takes a long time to get healthy?
There were reports a week or two ago that Turnbull was going to start a rehab assignment at AAA any day now.. Still waiting though.
Turnbull ??
It explains why the Phillies picked up Turnbull late and relatively cheap at $2 M.
I think the Tigers had him wired as a head case that can also be a malcontent.
So no more word on Spencer?
At best he will be a RP . There is not time to build him up as a SP this season.
Jeez, make up your mind America!
They may be better off seeing if the can talk Steve Carlton into coming out of retirement.
We already had one Clemens pitch for the Phillies this year; why not Kody’s dad?
The Phil’s may have issues come playoff time. Wheeler continues throwing well and Sanchez is rolling but Nola has given up 11 runs and 15 hits in his last 9 innings, Ranger looks cooked and Walker is worthless.
What playoff team doesn’t have problems at the backend of its rotation?
The Astros do have a big problem at the front end of their rotation though.
Starters for Phillies only need go 5 . Most dominant bullpen in baseball. U r dismissed.
Okay BP but not dominant. Actually not even top 5 statistically in the NL. The FO has been tinkering too. Shipping a pair of arms to Baltimore at the deadline, Walker ends up there, … And, the FO knows it.
The numbers speak for themselves. I don’t need to. The rest of your comment are irrelevant and obvious. Best Record in MLB. You are definitely dismissed.
“excellent top four of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez”
Suarez has been a disaster since June and Nola is predictable. He just got blown up by the Marlins and Mets in b2b games.
He’s just very unpredictable. He could go 8 shutout innings or he could give up 6 runs in 5 innings.
Maybe the Phillies want to help the Mets knock the Braves out of the postseason?
He should never pitch again in a Phillies uniform.
I seriously doubt that he will be on the playoff roster. He’s that bad!