If you had a chance to watch Taijuan Walker pitch this season, the word quality comes to mind.
And Walker has continued to show why he’s been one of the best starting pitchers this season. On Monday, he became the first pitcher to reach 12 wins on the season after another quality start as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the Miami Marlins 4-2.
Walker went 6 ⅔ innings allowing two runs and six hits while striking out four.
After his performance against Miami, Walker talked about how he felt.
“My body — everything feels good,” Walker said in an mlb.com article. “I was able to finish strong and come out good.”
Walker knows how to make adjustments during games. He gave up a two-run homer to Jorge Soler in the first inning, and after that, Miami was not able to push across any runs.
Using the four-seam and two-seam fastball, Walker does a good job with commanding the zone with those pitches and then he can come at you with the offspeed.
The veteran has won eight games dating back to June 6. There’s no question that Walker is the Phillies top pitcher in their starting rotation and he’s been very impressive as of late.
This is the time of the season where teams are making moves and acquiring players. The Phillies are a team in the hunt to compete for a wild card spot and possibly a division title.
Walker talked briefly about the trade deadline and if he thinks any of his teammates expect to be traded.
“I think so, I don’t know,” Walker said. “It’s been kind of quiet. But we know we have a good team with what we have right now. If we add, we’re just going to get even better.”
Philadelphia has been playing well since the beginning of June, and Walker has played a vital role in his team’s success.
On the season, he’s carrying a 12-4 record with a 3.99 ERA.
He’s already tied his career high for wins that he set last season and will surely surpass that this season.
“We know we can play better baseball and tonight showed it,” Walker told NBC Sports Philadelphia about his team after the win over Miami. “Hopefully, this is the start of some good baseball we’re going to play down the stretch.”
And Walker’s teammates know how much of a competitor he is and that he does his best to keep his team in games when he’s on the mound.
“He’s always like that,” Alec Bohm said. “If he gives up a couple early, he finds a way to get into the seventh inning, save the bullpen and you look up and we’re tied or winning. He’s been really good about that, even if it’s not a good start or he gives up a homer early, he just gets right back to it and keeps things where they are.”
There’s no question the Phillies want to get back to the World Series and they have the team to do so.
And with Walker making noise like this in his first year with the team, it’ll will be exciting to see how he finishes out the remainder of the season.
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