The Philadelphia Phillies' recent misery compounded on Wednesday night, when their loss to the Cubs and the Mets' win against the Twins forced them to share last place in the NL East. The Phillies' eight-game losing streak is now the longest active streak in baseball.
When we play the blame game, fingers always point at managers first, and Rob Thomson is very much in the hot seat. But, to be fair, it's hard for anyone to manage players who just aren't performing.
Taijuan Walker has been a problem for Philly on and off since he signed a four-year, $72 million deal with them ahead of the 2023 season. He was decent that year, bad the next, decent again, and absolutely miserable five games (four starts) into his walk year.
Something had to give. On Thursday, buried under extraneous roster moves, the Phillies announced they had released Walker with $18 million left on his contract.
Prior to today’s game against the Chicago Cubs, the Phillies recalled RHP Nolan Hoffman from triple-A Lehigh Valley. To make room on the 26-man roster, RHP Alan Rangel was optioned to Lehigh Valley following last night’s game. Additionally, RHP Taijuan Walker was released.
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 23, 2026
Walker's best start was a five-inning, two-run effort against the Diamondbacks on April 11, but every other time he's taken the mound has spelled disaster for Philadelphia.
With Zack Wheeler set to return on Saturday, the Phillies can afford to go a couple days without a full rotation. The relief of having Walker off the roster is probably more precious to them right now than the rest of the $18 million they'll have to eat.
Phillies release Taijuan Walker after disastrous start to 2026
On Wednesday, Walker appeared in long relief out of the Phillies bullpen, and that outing turned out to be the kiss of death for his tenure. He came in behind opener Kyle Backhus — who is having a pretty ugly start to the year himself — and gave up five runs (four earned) on eight hits (one homer) and a walk in four innings of work. He only struck out one batter. The 23 earned runs he allowed in just 22 2/3 innings on the season leads the major leagues.
Walker's signing is sure to go down as one of Dave Dombrowski's worst. The sheer size of his deal was rather questionable from the beginning, given Walker's rather middling history with four other clubs including the division rival Mets, but Dombrowski was encouraged by his career-best 2022 season in New York.
It (sort of) paid off for one year, and then the bloom came off the rose. It's a sad ending for Walker, but not one that fans will find themselves taking particularly hard.
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