Taijuan Walker struggles, potentially pitching himself out of mop-up spot on playoff roster
Final Score: Cubs 10, Phillies 4
Taijuan Walker has worked very hard to improve his results, and has always been accountable postgame when he struggles. But far too many times this season, some sort of momentum for the Philadelphia Phillies has been completely halted by Walker taking the mound. Tuesday was the latest example of that.
A night after the Phillies clinched their first NL East title in 13 years, Bryce Harper hit his 30th home run of the season in the bottom of the first inning, and it looked like there would be a chance to secure a series victory over the Chicago Cubs. Walker, though, once again really struggled.
In fairness to Walker, he came into a bad situation Tuesday evening. Tanner Banks opened the game for the Phillies, and after working a scoreless first inning he departed with one out and the bases loaded in the second. That’s a messy situation for anyone to enter into, much less a career-long starting pitcher. Much less a career-long starting pitcher who entered the day with a 6.91 ERA.
But Walker took a bad situation and made it worse. He walked the first two batters he faced, Miguel Amaya and Ian Happ, forcing in a pair of runs. Edmundo Sosa made a tremendous diving stop to limit Dansby Swanson to an RBI fielder’s choice, but then Seiya Suzuki drove in a pair of runs with a single into left field. Before the inning was out, Cody Bellinger brought home a sixth run for the Cubs.
Walker eventually exited in the top of the fourth inning with a pair of runners in scoring position and no one out in favor of Kolby Allard. Fans cheered sarcastically when Rob Thomson emerged from the dugout to pull Walker, and then booed the righty as he walked off the field.
In between striking out Suzuki and Isaac Paredes, Allard got Bellinger to pop up. He ultimately stranded two runners in scoring position, limiting the damage charged to Walker. Still, Walker gave up four hits, three walks and three runs over 1 2/3 innings, with his ERA spiking to 7.10.
Allard’s line wasn’t perfect, as he allowed five hits and four runs on the night. But he gave the Phillies length, going four innings and striking out five. His numbers also probably look worse than they actually were considering Cody Bellinger chopped what turned out to be an RBI triple, kind of an odd way to clear the bases.
It feels like while Allard has limitations, if you had to put him out in a postseason game where the Phillies were down 10-0 and have him pitch four or five innings and get you through the game without wrecking your bullpen, he could do it.
There’s no reason based on how Walker has pitched this season to believe he can.
Ticket IQ Next Game
- Wednesday, Sept. 25 vs. Cubs
- 6:05 ET
- TV: NBC Sports Philadelphia
- Radio: SportsRadio 94 WIP
- Spanish Radio: WTTM 1680
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