Taijuan Walker‘s first season with the Philadelphia Phillies was a strange one.
On one hand, he won 15 games during the regular season, racked up 172 2/3 innings pitched and is a Gold Glove Award finalist. On the other hand, Walker posted a 4.38 ERA and 4.54 FIP in 31 starts during the regular season. He finished the season with a 7.04 ERA in the first inning, often struggling to find velocity early in his outings. That contributed to him not making a single postseason appearance, despite being on the roster for all three rounds that the Phillies played in.
So how, after one year of a four-year/$72 million deal, does president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski view Walker?
“Well, I think first of all, Taijuan won 15 games, he pitched what 175 innings for us? In a year in which not many people did that, he took the ball basically every fifth day or sixth day at various times. I think he had a really solid season for us, I think he did a nice job.”
The Phillies didn’t use a fourth starter in the NLWCS or NLDS, only needing their top three starters — Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola and Ranger Suárez — to make starts across their first six postseason games.
Walker was under consideration to start Game 4 of the NLCS against the Arizona Diamondbacks, a team that he previously spent parts of three seasons with. Ultimately, Dombrowski says that Cristopher Sánchez looked better in a bullpen session in advance of Game 4, earning the start over Walker.
“And then what ended up happening is we had three starters that were our big three at the time,” Dombrowski said. “Ranger [Suarez] at that time was throwing great, so when it got to the postseason you’re all of a sudden in a position where you’re only using three and then when you need a fourth, they haven’t pitched for a while.
“And, it was just one of those days that we threw them out there … they threw a couple innings … [Cristopher] Sanchez and he … and he was having a hard time that day throwing strikes. His stuff was fine. And with that, the feeling was we were going to start Sanchez and we started him.”
After the Phillies were eliminated in the NLCS, Walker was active on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter. He even liked a pair of tweets that were critical of manager Rob Thomson’s postseason decision-making.
Dombrowski says that the Phillies don’t mind Walker being upset about not pitching in the postseason.
“But I like Taijuan Walker, I think he did a nice job,” Dombrowski said. “I look for him to be real solid part of our rotation. I never get upset when a guy would like to pitch and he doesn’t end up pitching. That’s good.”
OK, but what about Walker liking tweets that were critical of Thomson? Does a clearing of the air need to happen between Walker and Thomson?
“Well, I’m always careful with what’s on social media. And I don’t have a social media account on purpose,” Dombrowski said. “But I am aware of what took place. And Rob Thomson, we’ve talked about it already, he’s not worried about it. And I’m sure he’ll reach out to him and be able to settle him down.
“But again, it happens when guys don’t pitch or they don’t play at a particular time. I don’t mind it [for Walker] to get upset.”
For his part, Thomson said he hasn’t yet spoken with Walker, but is aware of his social media activity.
“I haven’t. I heard about it,” Thomson said with a smile, seeming unconcerned.
And Thomson doesn’t believe the relationship between him and Walker is fractured?
“Oh, not at all. Not one bit,” Thomson said without hesitation. “People get emotional. He’s a competitive guy. I love Taijuan, I really do. This guy gave us 15 wins. Every time he goes out to the mound, he competes until we take him out. He never wants to come out. And I want a guy like that.
“So, that type of thing doesn’t bother me. I’ll call him at some point,” Thomson continued. “But, I love him. I love his demeanor. I love his toughness. I’m sure everything will be fine.”
The truth is, Walker has quite a bit of value in the regular season. He’s logged 150 or more innings five times in his career, including in each of the last three seasons. During the regular season, you need starting pitchers who consistently log innings and keep you in the game. Walker is that, and occasionally he’ll turn in an even better performance.
But by the postseason, it’s not about preserving your bullpen and just trying to stay in a given game. It’s understandable that as a competitor, Walker was frustrated that he didn’t appear in a postseason game. But he posted a 4.38 ERA during the regular season, and has no history of pitching out of the bullpen. You can make a great living being an innings-eater during the regular season, but like Kyle Gibson a year ago, that may leave you without much of a role in the postseason.
Thomson and Walker can — and probably will — mend whatever fences need it this offseason. But frankly, if Walker doesn’t pitch better during the 2024 regular season, he may very well find himself in this same situation a year from now.
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