Phillies will discuss whether Taijuan Walker makes next start

Phillies will discuss whether Taijuan Walker makes next start originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

The Phillies will discuss whether Taijuan Walker makes his next start, manager Rob Thomson said after Wednesday’s 10-0 loss in which Walker gave up six runs on a career-high 13 hits to the Astros.

Walker has a 6.50 ERA in 14 starts this season and has not improved since missing seven weeks with a blister, posting a 9.17 ERA and 2.04 WHIP.

“We’ve gotta talk about it,” and “we’ve gotta discuss it,” were Thomson’s responses when asked twice Wednesday evening whether Walker would make his next start.

The next time that rotation spot comes up is Tuesday in Toronto, but because the Phillies are off Monday, they do have the option of skipping the No. 5 spot. The next time they’d need a fifth starter is next Saturday, Sept. 7 in Miami.

Still, that’s not an ideal option either because the Phillies would like to get all of Zack Wheeler, Aaron Nola, Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez extra time heading into the final month and postseason.

“I feel bad for him, I really do,” Thomson said of Walker. “All of you know how much I respect and love the players and he works extremely hard. He took the time on the IL to try different things to gain velocity, to gain action on his split. There’s no lack of effort there. When guys give effort and it doesn’t work out or you don’t see the results, it hurts. It hurts me and obviously it hurts him too.”

Walker’s fastball velocity and the movement of his splitter have increased slightly this month but it hasn’t translated into anything meaningful.

“Not really sure,” Thomson said when asked why it hasn’t. “I don’t really have an answer for it. I thought he was OK for the first couple of innings and then he lost finish in the fourth.

“There wasn’t a lot of swing-and-miss. … He certainly needs to have more swing-and-miss than he’s getting.”

Walker didn’t strike out a single Astro over his six innings. No Phillies pitcher in 76 years had allowed as many hits without a strikeout.

“I’ve never really struggled like this so it’s a little tough,” Walker said. “I feel good about myself, feel confident in myself. I obviously want to keep going and keep working through it, I know we’re pushing for the playoffs soon.”

The Phillies have two starters at Triple A they’ve used recently in lefty Kolby Allard and righty Tyler Phillips. Allard cannot be recalled from Triple A until Sept. 9 but Phillips can be called back up this Saturday once his 15 days since being optioned to the minors are up. Both have outperformed Walker, particularly Allard.

The Phils won’t need a No. 5 starter in October but they will need one for four or five more turns through the rotation in September.

“Frustrating, difficult,” Walker said of his last two weeks. “It’s obviously not the best times or moments for me. It’s just trying to keep my confidence and know that things are gonna start turning around, start going my way.”