The Philadelphia Phillies are in the middle of a pennant race, which has provided some spectacular moments throughout a winning season. Even with their great season, the big hangup has been Taijuan Walker. His continuance to try and prove that he is an asset has done nothing to prove his worth in a solid Phillies rotation and even for a postseason roster spot.
Coming into Thursday's contest against the New York Mets, the Phillies were on the brink of clinching a playoff berth for the third consecutive year. They can also seal up the division if they win at least two of four in Queens.
Rob Thomson owns up to biggest mistake yet with Taijuan Walker
Out of the bullpen, Walker showed some promise, able to get outs without allowing innings to get away from him. After he was given the start to open the four-game series against the Mets, the problems reemerged front and center.
His outing resulted in 3 1/3 innings pitched, eight earned runs on four homers and three walks on 71 pitches. The Phillies lost 10-6 and stalemated the magic number for at least another night. Walker's season record is now 3-7 with a 6.91 ERA.
As the Twilight Zone continues, manager Rob Thomson said he didn't want to burn the bullpen when asked about his decision to keep Walker in the game after the third inning.
"We've got a game tomorrow," Thomson said about not using low-leverage arms to prevent the Mets' big inning. "We've got a game for six days in a row. So you start using all those guys up, then what happens tomorrow if you get down? So it just didn't work out. My fault."
"So it didn't work out... my fault."
— NBC Sports Philadelphia (@NBCSPhilly) September 20, 2024
Rob Thomson addresses Taijuan Walker's start against the Mets. pic.twitter.com/ONWZn9KlFh
Perhaps Thomson has a point of not overusing the bullpen before the final stretch of games, but for the Mets to tack on five additional runs in the fourth inning is inexcusable. It would be nice to see playoff positions clinched before we start worrying about bullpen usage. Thomson owned up to his handling of the situation, which does provide some overall comfort.
Hindsight is always 20/20, but being one step closer to a division title with a win last night would have tasted much sweeter than adding another loss to Walker's record.
The silver lining is that Walker's starts are numbered as the playoff schedule doesn't call for a fifth starter (subscription required), per Matt Gelb of The Athletic. The Phillies do have enough get them through and retain their first-round bye. Maybe the Taijuan Walker experiment is over, but as we've seen before, we must see it to believe it.