Taijuan Walker just gave Phillies all the incentive they need to finally move on

Taijuan Walker has been the bane of Philadelphia Phillies fans' existence over the last calendar year. After an early spring tease, the veteran right-hander fell back into old, familiar habits on Wednesday in a 9-7 loss against the visiting New York Yankees.

Walker and his remaining two-year, $36 million salary just had to do one thing in his fourth start of the spring. After looking serviceable in his Grapefruit League action, he just had to get through another start to accomplish a few important things. Instead, he imploded on the mound at BayCare Ballpark.

Taijuan Walker just gave Phillies all the incentive they need to finally move on

If you have a weak stomach, you may want to avert your eyes from his final line on the day. He went 3 2/3 innings, giving up six earned runs on nine hits, including three home runs with two walks and just one strikeout.

He now has a 6.92 ERA and 1.69 WHIP in 13 spring innings, with six strikeouts, four walks and a shocking six home runs.

One more solid outing would have gone a long way in rebuilding the fans' trust. It likely would have made the Phillies a little more comfortable including him in the bullpen to start the year. Perhaps one more unremarkable start would have raised his trade value just enough for the front office to have the option of dealing him to a pitching-desperate team — like the Yankees.

But after getting through the first two innings with just a pair of singles, things unraveled in the third. After a 108.8 mph RBI double from top prospect Jasson Domínguez opened the scoring, Jazz Chisholm Jr. took him deep.

True to form, Phillies fans in attendance, even those on a relaxing spring training vacation in Clearwater, had a short fuse for Walker's antics. The boobirds came out immediately.

Unfortunately for Walker, things didn't get any better in the fourth inning. Journeyman Pablo Reyes (who?) scorched a solo shot to make it 4-0. Reyes has eight career long balls in 521 MLB at-bats.

For an encore, Walker gave up his third homer of the day three batters later. Ben Rice, owner of a .171 career batting average and seven home runs in 152 MLB at-bats, mashed this tater at 110.3 mph:

One more Yankees run later, and Phillies manager Rob Thomson was forced to pull Walker at 83 pitches.

With the horrifying specter of having Walker trotting out from the Phillies' bullpen this season haunting fans' dreams, it would be hard to find a supporter who's not ready to move on from the 32-year-old. How can a team with World Series aspirations seriously take Walker into the season? It's a curious question.

Still, it's hard to imagine the front office cutting ties and eating his remaining salary. At this point, it feels like that's all that's standing in between Walker and a DFA. It's also hard to imagine the Phillies not carrying Walker on the Opening Day 26-man roster in the bullpen. It sounded like the plan since Day 1 when he came to camp healthy and with increased velocity. Walker topped out at 93.9 mph and sat 92.4 mph with the four-seam fastball on Wednesday.

Even if he's a different guy this spring, fans have had more than enough of Walker. But we had better get used to seeing more of him this season.

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