Taijuan Walker will make his return to the Phillies’ rotation on Thursday in opposition to the Mets, supervisor Rob Thomson informed reporters (hyperlink through Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Philadelphia had moved the veteran righty to the bullpen on the finish of August.
Walker made three reduction appearances. He gave up two runs in three innings in opposition to the Blue Jays on September 3 and surrendered three runs in two innings to the Marlins 4 days later. Walker is coming off a greater exhibiting on Saturday, when he held the Mets scoreless over three frames. In complete, he has allowed 5 runs (4 earned) with solely two strikeouts in eight innings because the bullpen transfer.
That’s not precisely a dominant efficiency, however the Phils haven’t had a greater reply for the fifth starter function. Tyler Phillips, Seth Johnson and Kolby Allard every received one look within the #5 rotation spot. Phillips didn’t make it out of the primary inning and gave up six runs in opposition to Toronto. Johnson allowed 9 runs and didn’t get by the third inning versus Miami in his MLB debut. The Mets tagged Allard for 4 runs over three innings on Saturday. Johnson and Phillips have already been optioned again to Triple-A; Matt Gelb of the Athletic tweets that Allard will transfer to the bullpen.
Philadelphia’s fifth starter function has been a large number since Spencer Turnbull suffered a lat pressure in June. Walker has a 6.50 earned run common throughout 14 begins. Cameos for Michael Mercado and the aforementioned trio of Phillips, Johnson and Allard have yielded disastrous outcomes.
Thankfully, that shouldn’t be a giant deal within the postseason. Thomson can minimize right down to his glorious high 4 of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez. Walker ought to return to the bullpen in October if he makes the playoff roster. An harm to any of Philadelphia’s high 4 starters would make issues rather a lot much less snug, however they’re trending in the direction of a first-round bye with the sort of high-end rotation expertise they will rely on within the postseason.
For now, Walker may have a pair probabilities to attempt to end the common season on a excessive notice. After Thursday’s begin in Queens, he’ll be lined up for a house outing in opposition to the Cubs. The Phils solely want to show to their fifth starter twice extra within the common season. They might attempt to line Walker up for the ultimate begin in opposition to Washington on September 29 in the event that they’re already locked into the #1 or 2 seed within the Nationwide League and wish to give an additional day of relaxation to their projected postseason rotation.
