Taijuan Walker’s Hot Stretch Of Starts Creating Possible Six-Man Rotation Talks With Aaron Nola’s Return On The Horizon
Aug 11, 2025; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) pitches against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images
Raise your hand if you thought Taijuan Walker would be a major part of the Phillies’ pitching staff this late into the season.
Back in December of 2022, the Phillies made a huge signing during free agency, inking right-handed pitcher and former New York Met Taijuan Walker to a four-year, $72 million contract. It was looked at as a huge back-end starter that the Phillies needed, as the question marks with left-handers Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez were still looming.
However, that instantly didn’t go according to plan. Walker finished the 2023 regular season with a 15-6 record overall and a 4.38 ERA in 31 starts. While those numbers don’t seem like the worst, Walker was constantly in trouble throughout the year, giving up numerous runs in starts and walking a career-high 71 batters. He benefited greatly from the Phillies’ offense, scoring the eighth most runs in the lead.
If you still don’t think the performances were that bad, his lousy season resulted in him not even being added to any of the Phillies’ playoff roster, essentially saying that his services weren’t needed.
So Walker moved into 2024, but unfortunately for him, he began the season on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement and didn’t pitch for the first month of the season. When he returned at the end of April, he once again struggled. He posted a 5.60 ERA in his first 10 starts, with his velocity drastically dropping and his command of pitches struggling as well.
Eventually was put back on the injured list with right index finger inflammation, but returned once again in August, but the struggles continued. He was eventually moved to the bullpen and finished 2024 with a 3-7, and a 7.10 ERA. According to Baseball Savant, he was in the bottom 1% among MLB pitchers in average exit velocity (91.4 mph), whiff percentage (16.7%), and barrel percentage (13.4%), and in the bottom 3% in strikeout percentage (15.2%) and hard-hit percentage (46.3%).
Safe to say his time with the Phillies wasn’t going the way he hoped it would, and heading into 2025, there was a good chance the Phillies could move Walker as they went out and acquired left-hander Jesús Luzardo from the Marlins. However, the Phillies didn’t trade Walker and instead moved him to the bullpen/emergency starter role, beginning the year starting due to an injury to Suarez.
Walker’s first month and a half started well, as he posted a 2.30 ERA in seven starts. He went back to the bullpen and, for the next two months, essentially filled in as the long man, backing up young starter Mick Abel, who was still adjusting to his time in the Majors. Abel was eventually sent down and traded, and Walker moved back into rotation once again, just filling in until Aaron Nola returned from his injury.
Despite going through all he has had the past two and a half years, Walker is finally pitching like the guy the Phillies hoped they would get back in 2022. Over his last six starts, Walker is 1-0 with a 2.98 ERA over 30.2. innings pitched. He has allowed 34 hits, but only 10 earned runs, and has walked only four batters and struck out 16. He has given the Phillies huge outings, keeping them in games where they’re not scoring nearly enough runs as they used to have to when Walker pitched.
His two most recent starts have arguably been his best, as he’s gone six innings in both, allowing just one run, dropping his season ERA to 3.39, the lowest it’s ever been this late in a season as a Phillie. Phillies manager Rob Thomson stated after Walker’s start against the Orioles last week that it wasn’t out of the question of Walker remaining in the rotation when Nola returns from the injured list. They’d have a deadly six-man rotation that can give breaks to their big arms, who have pitched a lot of innings this year.
It’s been a tremendous turnaround for Walker, and while this might only be a flash in the pan, the Phillies are going to ride this wave for as long as they can. It’s going to be impossible for Walker to earn the entirety of his $72 million the Phillies gave him two and a half years ago. However, if he can continue to give Philadelphia good outings moving forward, they may just have another reliable arm for the postseason and their quest for a World Series.
Matt Brown
Matt has been a Philadelphia sports fan all his life and spent four years at Penn State University majoring in Broadcast Journalism and minoring in Sports Studies. He previously covered Penn State’s field hockey, men’s and women’s basketball, and baseball teams while writing for a Penn State blog called Onward State. He has now covered the Phillies, Eagles, and Sixers for Philly Sports Reports since October 2024 and wants to pursue a career in Sports Journalism.
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