The Philadelphia Phillies have been engaged in a two-way battle with the New York Mets atop the National League East standings to start the 2025 season, but they desperately need help in their bullpen. That has led the team to make a big decision regarding starting pitcher Taijuan Walker, who had recently been filling in for Aaron Nola in the starting rotation.

Walker initially only began the season as a starter because Ranger Suarez was dealing with a back injury, and after a brief move to the bullpen, he was forced back into a starting role due to Nola's own injury woes. Even though Nola isn't back, manager Rob Thomson has decided to shake things up and move Walker into the bullpen, where he will be utilized in a high leverage role moving forward.

“I think Tai’s got a chance to make us a lot better coming out of the pen,” Thomson said when discussing the move.

Phillies hoping Taijuan Walker can make impact out of bullpen

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Walker struggled mightily in 2024, posting an ugly 7.10 earned run average over his 19 outings, but he's been much better to start the season. In 10 appearances, eight of which have been starts, Walker has posted a 3.53 ERA while racking up 39 strikeouts. However, he's going to be in unfamiliar territory now, as he's never been used in this sort of capacity during his major league career.

With Philadelphia's bullpen so shorthanded, though, Thomson decided to make a rather unique change in hopes of capitalizing off of Walker's strong start to the year. It's a bit of a risk, but the Phillies need to find arms who can help keep runs off the board late in the game, and all eyes will be on Walker to see if he can make Thomson look like a genius for making this change.