For the second time in as many months, the Phillies are pulling right-hander Taijuan Walker from their starting rotation. Paul Casella of MLB.com reported this morning that Walker’s being moved to the bullpen permanently in a move that will clear the way for right-hander Mick Abel to be promoted to the majors and fill in for Aaron Nola in the starting rotation. Matt Gelb of The Athletic added further context to that reporting, noting that Walker is specifically moving to a one-inning, setup role in order to help bolster the club’s late-inning mix. Meanwhile, Gelb notes that Abel will get at least two starts for the Phillies before Nola’s return, which the club currently expects to occur near the middle of June.
It’s a big change for Walker, who has just ten career relief appearances and has served exclusively as a long relief arm in those outings. Gelb notes that Walker has never pitched on back-to-back days before in his career, an adjustment that will surely take some getting used to for the right-hander. Still, it’s understandable for Philadelphia to want to try him in this new role given the state of their pitching staff. Abel is knocking on the door of the majors as a potential rotation option with top prospect Andrew Painter potentially not all that far behind, and the Phillies’ rotation is already full when healthy. Without much of a path to a long-term rotation role in the cards for Walker anyway, it makes sense for the club to try him in a new role.
Given that the Phillies recently lost Jose Alvarado to a PED suspension, saw Jeff Hoffman and Carlos Estevez depart in free agency over the winter, and have watched Jordan Romano struggle badly this year after being signed to serve as the club’s closer, there’s perhaps no greater need on the roster than that for a high leverage relief arm to join Matt Strahm in supporting Romano. Walker will now be tasked with doing just that, and Gelb notes that he seemed intrigued by the idea after his last start.
“If I have one inning to blow it out, whatever it is, I feel like my stuff would play up just a little bit more,” Walker said last week, as relayed by Gelb. “Knowing that I got one inning, just let it eat.”
Walker’s departure from the rotation makes room for Abel to join the mix, at least temporarily. The right-hander made his big league debut earlier this season in a spot start and was extremely impressive, tossing six scoreless innings with nine strikeouts against zero walks. The Phillies were clearly intrigued by that dazzling performance, and now he’ll get to make at least a couple additional starts. Abel is set to join the club to start Thursday’s game against the Blue Jays, and Gelb notes that after that he’ll be in line to start against the Cubs next week. Those offenses are far more impressive than the Pirates lineup Abel dominated in his big league debut, so these next pair of outings will be a major test for the 23-year-old right-hander.
But he is 6′ 4″, how 🤔 is that going to work?🤣🤣🤣
6’4″ is short to the relief of some…
For the 2nd time in as many months? And the 2nd time in the same sentence….
“For the second time in as many months, the Phillies are pulling right-hander Taijuan Walker from their starting rotation for the second time in as many months” top notch writing right there
How can you not be pedantic about baseball?
Pretty sure that Ben and Meg would agree that Taijuan is NOT effectively wild.
This is the right move. Let Abel pitch and see what he can do
Id agree, let Abel work in the rotation through July, and you’ll really know where you’re at in regards to needing a starter.
If Abel flops, he is tradeable, if he pitches like he did in his last start, you have to keep him rostered and take your chances with him for the stretch run.
It is the wrong move. Walker has performed and Abel is unproven.
With Nola coming back, someone in the rotation has to move to the bullpen. Looks like it is Walker which is probably the best choice right now. Abel is just getting a spot start in Walker’s place to give the team another look before Nola is healthy.
Abel should be in AAA until July when perhaps the Phillies could trade a starter or there is another injury.
Not a even a wild card team.
I think they’re a Wild Car team but just barely. They’ve been playing a bit above their heads as their team OPS+ and ERA+ are only a little above average. Pyth W-L has them at 31-28, their Luck is the highest in the majors at 5, and their record against teams .500 or better is 13-15. I’d wager that by the All-Star break, the Phillies will be closer in the standings to the Braves than to the Mets.
Walker’s stuff is eminently hittable, in any role. Nola provides little solace and Thomson is hellbent on ruining Luzardos season and for the post season.
Walker has had some real nice outings this season, he is a great piece to the roster, have a nice long relief / middle relief / bullpen arm, he is there for a spot start or two.
He will get shelled. Watch.
I realize Walker is being paid $18M/season, and for that reason alone (among many others) he should be a professional about things. But nonetheless, I’m thankful he is choosing to do so rather than complaining about having his role move about from “starter” to “relief pitcher.”
If I recall correctly, he was a bit vocal about how the team handled him during his first season with the club. Based upon that, I thought he may take issue with his inevitable more to the bullpen this year. Hopefully he proves successful in this role.
He belongs in the rotation. He earned his demotion last year but he’s also earned a rotation spot this year.
So much negativity about a team playing .600 baseball. This is a reasonable move and I believe it has a reasonable chance of working out. There are way worse problems to have than too many starting pitchers. Good on Taijaun for embracing the change and good on Philly management for having the ability to get buy in from a veteran player being asked to make a big change.
Its Philly. They are born negative.
Walker didnt deserve to be demoted.
@KOC
As a born and raised Philadelphian, I have to absolutely, positively disagree with you.
A guy from Philly being disagreeable?
Shocked…….
Yes KOC, but positively disagreeable. (I’m hoping irony isn’t completely wasted on you.)
Lot of, putting it as bluntly as possible, idiots here regarding Walker. He’s probably been one of the team’s four most reliable arms in ANY role this season.
I am good with the move. Let’s see what Abel can do for a few starts, and while Taj has been pretty solid he is not really equipped at this point to be a guy to work his way through the lineup a third time as a routine. I am hoping that he can find his role in the pen as an asset for now.
Walker has proven he’s a starter. Abel hasn’t proven anything. Walker should be the starter not Abel. This isn’t the Pirates its a win now team.
Having a good year. Look it up.
Mr. McNasty, as a poster, is garbage.
Mute this troll.
Having a nice year in 2025. Feel free to look it up.
A brief mention of Walker’s 2025 stats would not be a terrible idea for this article
Seems quite relevant. He’s a starter for basically any team in baseball the way he’s performing now and has in the past.
No lead is safe with Nola. I think if Walker gets spotted a few runs, he can hold through the 5th. Nola is a HR derby pitcher.
I’ve stated here before that Walker in the BP is scary except in a mop up long relief type situation. He’s not built for it. At this point I feel bad for him I guess. He’s getting shuffled around and it’s clear they are not sure what to do with him but his paycheck forces some kind of use. I don’t think this team is viable as a contender regardless of what the record looks like right now and should be selling come trade deadline….maybe get somebody to take him in a bigger deal at that point…
For what it’s worth, it is not like the 2025 version of Jeff Hoffman is a big loss. He’s given up 6 home runs already.