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Taijuan Walker talks move to bullpen: ‘Just try to keep going’

Taijuan Walker was moved to the bullpen. (Grace Del Pizzo/Phillies Nation)

On Thursday, Phillies manager Rob Thomson announced Taijuan Walker would be moving to the club’s bullpen. This came one day after Walker allowed six runs on 13 hits in Wednesday’s loss to the Astros. Thomson said Walker’s first appearance out of the bullpen will likely be in a low-leverage spot for one inning. The right-hander will then be built up for a role as a long man.

Walker is still recovering from Wednesday’s start. He anticipates being ready to come out of the bullpen by next Tuesday’s series opener in Toronto against the Blue Jays.

Thomson mentioned he thought Walker’s stuff would “tick up” coming out of the bullpen. When asked about how his stuff would play out of the bullpen on Friday, Walker said he wasn’t sure, “I don’t know. The last time I pitched out of the bullpen was 2014, so we’ll see.”

Walker added that he may change up his arsenal a bit. Depending on what the team needs — multiple innings in long relief or just an inning or two — he may not use some of his pitches. His fastball and splitter are his best pitches when he’s on. He said he could rely heavily on those two in his new role.

Walker’s ERA this season is 6.50. He’s allowed 18 runs in 17 2/3 innings since returning from the injured list on Aug. 13. On dealing with his struggles this year, Walker said, “It’s kind of the first time I have [struggled like this]. Just try to keep going, trying to stay confident in myself knowing that I’ve done [this] for so long, and I’ve been good.”

Walker admitted to having ups and down in the past, but not quite like this, “It’s just kind of my first year that I’ve kind of been bad all year. Usually I’ve had moments where it’s bad, but moments where it’s really good. I just haven’t had that this year.”

One reason for Walker’s struggles has been the ineffectiveness of his splitter. He dealt with a blister issue earlier this season that contributed to that. Before landing on the injured list, Walker’s overall velocity had been down, too.

Walker mentioned the weighted ball program the club had him on while he was in the injured list. He had the same message as Thomson did on Thursday. There wasn’t enough time for the program to fully work.

“We did it so quickly,” Walker said. “I mean, we did it for a month, you know? … I thought it helped my splitter pick up a little bit, so that was a plus.” The veteran does think such a program could work and help him if used during the offseason, “I think having a whole offseason of doing the program should help out. …I haven’t done weighted balls in a long time, so it was something that was kind of newer, something I haven’t done.”

Walker added: “Now doing [a weighted ball program] and seeing what the movements are, and what the program is, it’ll be easier in the offseason.”

In 2023, Walker’s sinker averaged 92.4 mph and his four-seamer sat a little higher at 92.8 mph. This year, both of those have averaged around 91 mph. As for his splitter, that pitch averaged 87.9 mph and batters had a .205 batting average against it a year ago. This season, Walker’s splitter has averaged 86.5 mph. Opponents have a .390 average against it with five home runs.

Having such little separation in velocity between his sinker and splitter has puzzled the 32-year-old. “The fact that my splitter is still 88 and my fastball is only 91, 92 is something that’s kind of confusing for me,” Walker said. “For my splitter to be 88 and my fastball to be 91, I don’t know. I feel like usually when my splitter is 88, usually my fastball should be 93, 94.”

Walker’s splitter velocity was back up after coming off the injured list, but his fastball velocity wasn’t consistently sitting where he feels it should.

After being a good innings eater a year ago, Walker didn’t pitch in the postseason for the Phillies. It doesn’t seem likely he’ll pitch this October, either.

That being said, he is hopeful he can pitch his way into a postseason role come September, “Well, I mean, I guess it’s up to me. I have to show them that I can come out of the bullpen and be effective. I’ll work really hard to do that and I want to be part of it. It sucks not being a part of it and not helping out the team, so anything I can do to help our team… I’m going to go out there and do the best I can.”

With two years and $36 million left on his contract, there’s been plenty of talk about what Walker’s future holds. When asked about 2025, the right-hander said the team is still focused on this season. But he did say the plan for him this upcoming offseason is for him to go through a weight ball program and be ready for spring camp.