Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker has yet to see action in the 2024 MLB regular season, but he seems to be making progress toward a return to the mound soon. Walker recently pitched in a live batting practice last Saturday at Nationals Park, with Philadephia manager Rob Thomson sounding optimistic about the hurler's showing in the said BP.
“He got a lot of soft contact, a lot of swings and misses,” Thomson said (h/t MLB.com).
The latest on Phillies' Taijuan Walker
The current projection for Walker is that he will be able to suit up and join the Phillies staff as early as the first week of May.
“Walker’s fastball sat around 90 mph, which the Phillies said was expected in cold conditions. Thomson said he would like to see Walker reach 100-plus pitches on his rehab assignment before he rejoins the Phillies’ rotation. He will be limited to approximately 60 pitches in his first rehab start, whenever that happens. His pitch count will jump in 15-pitch increments after that, meaning if Walker starts every five days, it would put him on course to rejoin the rotation in early May. (Last updated: April 7).”
After two seasons with the New York Mets, Walker decided to stay in the National League East division, as he arrived in the City of Brotherly Love in December of 2022 via a four-year $72 million contract with Philadelphia. In 2023, his first season with the Phillies, Walker posted a 15-6 record and a 4.38 ERA across 31 starts, while pitching for a career-high 172.2 innings. He also generated a 4.53 WHIP, 1.309 WHIP, and just a 99 OPS+ in 2023.
Walker and the Phillies are hoping that once he's ready to see action in the big leagues again, he will be able to post better numbers than the ones he had in 2023. That would entail Walker improving his control, as he had an 18.8 percent strikeout rate — the second-worst of his career — in his first season with the Phillies and a 9.7 percent walk rate — tied for the second-highest of his career. In 11 years in the majors, Walker has a 21.0 percent strikeout rate and a 7.9 percent walk rate.
If the Phillies plan on using Walker as heavily as they did last season, they will have to be certain that he's 100 percent healthy and ready before inserting him into the rotation. A lot will be known about his progress once he starts pitching in the minors as part of his rehab from a right shoulder issue.
Philadelphia having an uneven start to 2023 MLB season
The Phillies have won just four of their first nine games of the season. They started their campaign with back-to-back losses to the Atlanta Braves before going 4-3 in the next seven outings. However, Philadelphia just won its first series of 2024, taking two of three games in a recently concluded set versus the Washington Nationals.
Pitching has been an early issue for the Phillies, but the sample size remains too small for them to even think about opening the panic button's cover. On the season, the Phillies have allowed 44 runs with a team ERA of 4.22. However, their starters ERA is at 3.23 — good enough to crack the top 10 at the moment.
After the series versus the Nationals, Philadelphia will have another three-game set on the road that begins this Monday night against the St. Louis Cardinals.
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