Taijuan Walker still scoreless, does his job again vs. a tougher lineup

Taijuan Walker still scoreless, does his job again vs. a tougher lineup originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia

ATLANTA — It’s meaningful any time a starting pitcher keeps a big-league lineup off the board, but as uplifting a story as Taijuan Walker’s scoreless start was last Thursday, a grain of salt was required. The Rockies are going to lose 100-plus games, they can’t hit and are even less threatening on the road.

Could he do it again in Atlanta? Against a powerful and proven Braves offense hungry for wins after beginning the season 2-8? Making a mistake vs. Michael Toglia and Nick Martini isn’t the same as missing over the plate to Austin Riley and Matt Olson, after all.

But Walker didn’t miss over the plate much at all to Riley, Olson or the Braves on Wednesday night at Truist Park, pitching 4⅔ scoreless innings. The Rockies put the barrel of the bat on the ball just twice against him last week and Walker induced more soft and middling contact in this one, allowing no extra-base hits.

Walker bent but didn’t break, as the cliche goes, stranding two runners in the second inning, the bases loaded in the third and a leadoff single in the fourth. He loaded the bases again with two outs in the fifth and was replaced by Jose Ruiz, who popped up Austin Riley.

Through two starts, Walker has pitched 10⅔ scoreless innings. He won’t finish with an ERA of 0.00, 1.00, 2.00 or likely 3.00, but that doesn’t matter right now. What matters currently is that with Ranger Suarez out, Walker is filling a role for the Phillies and doing it capably.

“This is a good hitting ballclub but it’s all about execution for him,” manager Rob Thomson said pregame. “If he can command his fastball, change speeds, change speeds behind in the count, land his offspeed stuff, he’ll be fine.”

Walker retired the side 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first with two strikeouts. He hit Sean Murphy with two outs in the second and allowed a single to Bryan De La Cruz but escaped with a Jarred Kelenic groundout. The Braves loaded the bases after two quick outs in the third but Walker jammed Riley for a foulout to first base. He induced a 5-4-3 double play after a leadoff single in the fourth and combined with Ruiz to avoid damage in the fifth.

It’s been quite the bounce-back so far for Walker, who finished last season with a 7.10 ERA and career-worst numbers across the board. A year ago, he couldn’t miss bats and didn’t have an out pitch. He didn’t have a single start like these first two. But the velocity has crept back up from 88-90 mph to 92-93 and the movement of his sinker and splitter have both been sharp.

His first inning Wednesday was a good example. The first batter, Michael Harris II, extended the zone to tap out back to the mound on a splitter just off the plate away. Atlanta’s No. 2 hitter, Ozzie Albies, struck out on a two-seamer from Walker that was probably a mistake because of how much plate it caught, but it only did so because of how wickedly it danced back over the middle.

There was a thought this winter that the Phillies might cut ties with Walker despite owing him $18 million in 2025 and $18 million in 2026. Even with their added starting pitching depth, it’s a good thing they didn’t.

“He’s always been upbeat but there is a little bit of a difference and that’s understandable to me,” Thomson said. “Last year was rough, I mean it was rough. I don’t really know how a person could go through something like that. That tells you a lot about him.

“If you’re any type of leader at all, you love the people that you’re around, it’s innate, it’s like your kids. So when that stuff happens, bad or good, there’s feelings that come out for me. So I’m glad he’s on the good side of that.”

Walker is holding a rotation spot until Suarez is ready to return from a back injury. Suarez will begin a rehab assignment Thursday with Clearwater and is expected to pitch three innings. The lefty will likely need at least three rehab starts, maybe four, after pitching just five innings in Grapefruit League games.