Heading into Thursday's series finale with the Colorado Rockies, it's fair to say that a large contingent of Philadelphia Phillies fans weren't overly optimistic. The Phillies' starting pitcher for the 1:05 p.m. ET start was Taijuan Walker, who has been the recipient of plenty of attention already this season — usually for all the wrong reasons.
When Walker went out to the mound at Citizens Bank Park for the matinée, fans assumed they were going to see the same pitcher they routinely booed last season as he pitched his way to a 7.10 ERA. It couldn't have been further from the truth.
Taijuan Walker's season debut was absolutely fantastic, and not what Phillies fans were expecting
To be fair, what we saw during spring training didn't inspire much confidence either. Walker had a 7.41 ERA after finishing training camp with some poor outings. As Tom McCarthy spoke about on Thursday's broadcast, Walker was apparently working on some things in the spring that he has since abandoned.
The veteran right-hander, filling in for the injured Ranger Suárez, flipped the script from the spring. He threw 74 pitches (47 for strikes) over six scoreless innings. He generated 11 whiffs, giving up just three hits and one walk while striking out four. His strong outing helped the Phillies to a 3-1 win that secured their first series sweep of the young season.
Taijuan Walker, Nasty 88mph Splitter. 😨 pic.twitter.com/B1GN8MTLaU
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 3, 2025
Walker's velocity was a massive concern in 2024. On Thursday, his sinker touched 93.9 mph and sat 92.7 mph, up 1.6 mph from last year. His four-seamer hit 93.8 mph, sitting 92.8, up 1.3 mph from a year ago.
Walker was the only Phillies starter in this series who didn't allow a home run to Rockies slugger Hunter Goodman. In case you missed it, Cristopher Sánchez and Zack Wheeler were the other starters.
He even threw in a pick-off at first base to close out the top of the third inning.
Got 'em pic.twitter.com/ty30mT73m8
— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 3, 2025
After going 3-7 last year, Walker picked up his first win of the 2025 season. He left the game with a 1-0 lead thanks to a Bryce Harper RBI double in the fifth inning. Kyle Schwarber tacked on a second run with a mammoth solo home run in the seventh. The Phillies added one more for good measure on a wild pitch in the eighth.
The 32-year-old left the field in the sixth to a standing ovation. It was a sharp contrast to the home opener on Monday, when Phillies fans booed him during the pre-game ceremony.
"Tai[juan] just did a great job of mixing his pitches and attacking the strike zone," Phillies catcher J.T. Realmuto told McCarthy and John Kruk during his on-field post-game interview. "He was ahead of guys all day, a lot of weak contact early in the counts, and was able to get us deep in the ball game and get to the bullpen."
While Walker's season debut was a pleasant surprise, he'll have to repeat the performance to start selling Phillies fans on his ability to contribute this season. He has taken the brunt of fans' ire, but there's nothing Phillies fans want more than to see everyone on the team pulling toward a winning championship season.