The Philadelphia Phillies are making a major move with starting pitcher Taijuan Walker. The 32-year-old is being demoted to the bullpen in the midst of his brutal 2024 season.
Taijuan Walker moved to Phillies’ bullpen
Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters that Walker, who has two more seasons remaining in his contract, will head to the bullpen and serve as a “long man” to help him transition into a new role. “The perfect situation would be one inning, low leverage, and then start building him from there,” he said.
Thomson said the Phillies will bring up someone else to serve as the fifth starter but that they haven’t yet notified that player yet. Whoever it is — probably Tyler Phillips, who was previously used as an injury replacement in the rotation — will pitch on Tuesday’s series opener against the Toronto Blue Jays. Todd Zolecki of MLB.com noted that Kolby Allard is not eligible to be called back up from Triple-A until deeper into September.
In 14 starts this season, Walker has a 6.50 ERA and 6.30 FIP. He failed to complete five innings in four of his last five starts, going 6.0 innings in his last start against the Houston Astros to help preserve the bullpen for the Phillies’ four-game set against the Atlanta Braves. Walker allowed 13 hits and six earned runs to Houston. Philadelphia has lost the last nine of his starts and had to make a move to sharpen up for the home stretch of the regular season.
Walker hasn’t pitched out of the bullpen in MLB since 2014. For a Phillies team trying to secure a division title and one of the top seeds in the National League, it’s a bold move to stick with such a struggling pitcher.
Thomson said Walker took the news of his demotion from the rotation professionally. The Phillies manager hopes Walker’s velocity will “tick up” in the new role.
Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
