Mark Gray gives his take on the unfathomable Blackout of $72M pitcher #MLBbro pitcher Taijuan Walker in these 2023 MLB Playoffs. It just doesn’t add up. What was manager Rob Thomson thinking?
Rachel Hill highlights the community work and social issues that inspire Philadelphia Phillies MLBbro pitcher Taijuan Walker to action.
Taijuan Walker continues to impress the baseball world as he picked up his team-leading 15th win of the season on Monday as the Philadelphia Phillies defeated the San Diego Padres 9-7.
Philadelphia’s offense made sure they supported Walker as they jumped out to an early 8-1 lead after three innings. The 15 wins is a new career-high for Walker and don’t be surprised if he continues to add to that win total as the regular season is nearing an end.
He went five innings giving up four earned runs and struck out four against the Padres. Not his best outing, but he was able to hold the Padres just enough during those five innings of work.
“Not the best,” Walker said in an article from NBC Sports Philadelphia. “We had a big early lead and I feel like today should’ve been one of those days where I went at least six, seven innings.”
Phillies manager Rob Thomson has enjoyed watching Walker go out there and battle each time he takes the mound.
“Other than the walks, walking into some jams and worked himself out of it,” he said. “He just competes. There’s a reason why he’s got 15 wins. He just wills himself.”
It was Walker’s second consecutive win as his record improved to 15-5 with a 4.15 ERA, moving within one win of the NL lead held by Chicago Cubs pitcher Justin Steele and Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider.
The 31-year-old became the eighth Phillies pitcher to record 15 wins in the last 23 years. He’s also the first Philly to win 15 games since Aaron Nola won 17 back in 2018.
In his first year in Philadelphia, Walker wasted no time becoming one of the top pitchers not only on his team, but in the National League.
Melanated Mound Marauder Taijuan Walker Keeps Shining With MLB-Leading 12th Win
The Phillies are benefitting from signing him last December. Our MLBbro has always had the skill set to be an effective pitcher and we are seeing that this season.
A big reason for Walker’s success this season has been his health. This has allowed him to continue to make scheduled starts throughout the season and Walker is taking full advantage of that.
One area for improvement with Walker is the number of runs given up in the first inning. He’s allowed 21 runs in the first inning throughout his 27 starts and he has 6.75 ERA in the first inning and a 3.58 ERA in the innings after.
“It is important,” Thomson said. “I don’t know whether we switch up his pregame routine or what. The last couple of weeks we’ve given up first-inning runs a lot. I don’t know what that is, whether it’s just a blip on the radar or something in our process we need to change. We’ll look at it, for sure.”
Philadelphia has a good chance of making the Wild Card this year and potentially making another trip back to the World Series.
And you better believe Walker will look to play a key role in the postseason. Walker has only appeared in the postseason once, which was in 2017 with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
The Continued Success Of MLBbro Taijuan Walker Is Vital To A Second Half Comeback For Philadelphia
But if he can perform come playoff time like he has been during the regular season, he will be able to put the Phillies in position to win games. And everyone knows that each game is vital in the postseason.
It will be interesting to see where the Phillies decide to place Walker in the starting rotation once the postseason comes, but you better believe Walker will be ready when his number is called upon.
Taijuan Walker’s golden right arm continues to rack up the W’s as the Phillies keep their wild-card hopes alive by taking two of three in a series against the Kansas City Royals. The Phillies currently have 61 wins and are battling with Lamonte Wade Jr.’s San Francisco Giants for the top Wild Card spot in the NL.
Walker didn’t have his best stuff, but he gutted out another quality start and boosted his MLB-leading win total to 13 against just four losses.
Fly Tai gutted out 95 pitches over seven innings, giving up seven hits, four runs and a walk. He struck out just two, but recorded 12 fly-ball outs in a 8-4 Phillies win over the down-trodden Kansas City Royals on Sunday.
Great bounce back innings from Taijuan Walker today after a shaky start.
He’s in line for his 13th win of the season. Final line today:
7 IP 7 H 4 R 4 ER 1 BB 2 K
95 pitches, 57 strikes
— Donovan Vogel (@Donnie_BROgel) August 6, 2023
Walker struggled through his first couple of innings, going down 4-3 after a Royals homer by MJ Melendez, but the poised workhorse settled down to throw five scoreless innings in a row before relinquishing the rock to the bullpen.
Walker, who was unfathomably left of the NL All-Star team is now elevating himself into the Cy Young race and he could potentially reach Black Ace status if he keeps pitching deep into games and getting some breaks here and there. The Phillies playoff life depends on it.
The veteran hurler has been gaining momentum since the season progressed and the Phillies began to gain confidence that they could make a return to the World Series.
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.
Taijuan Walker Silences The Mets | Fly Tai’s Fourth Win In A Row Was Ace Stuff
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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