After being removed early from his previous start on April 22 due to soreness in his left forearm, left-handed starting pitcher Cristopher Sánchez returned to the mound on Wednesday, providing a significant boost to the Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation. After Sánchez appeared good in five innings of work and won his third win of the season in the Phillies’ 7-2 victory against the Washington Nationals, any remaining doubts regarding his health were promptly allayed.
Additionally, the Phillies suddenly have six starting pitchers and five rotation spaces after fellow left-hander Ranger Suárez made his first start of the season on Sunday. Nevertheless, there is a lot of conjecture about the Phillies’ future plans with their excess pitching. The team’s decision to cut Taijuan Walker at the conclusion of spring training used to seem obvious, but his relative success in six starts this season has apparently put a stop to that discussion.
Taijuan Walker’s success is forcing Phillies into surprisingly tough rotation and bullpen decisions
Manager Rob Thomson is in an intriguing position as a result of Suárez and Sánchez’s recent comeback to the starting lineup. Similar to the previous season, when Walker’s return from the injured list sparked speculation that the club may use a six-man rotation, Walker may be the odd man out if the team decides to take a more traditional approach this time.
The organization may use a six-man rotation in the future, according to some publications, while others, including as Matt Gelb of The Athletic, predict Walker will wind up in the Phillies bullpen (subscription needed).
Walker’s place on the 26-man roster is no longer up for question, which is rather stunning even though the reality may lie somewhere in the center. He deserves a lot of credit for working hard this summer and demonstrating that, despite a previously worrisome decline in velocity, he has found out how to throw successfully once more, even though his future is still up in the air.
Whatever your perspective, Walker’s relative success is undoubtedly a startling phenomenon. Walker deserves praise for his ability to tune out the clamor and provide the Phillies with largely excellent innings thus far this season, even if many Phillies fans have approached each of his starts with a good dose of cynicism and on-brand fatalism.
Without risking exaggeration, Walker’s total performance across six starts supports the narrative arc of his recovery. The Phillies signed Walker to a four-year, $72 million contract prior to the 2023 season, and as we all know by now, he will never be the kind of pitcher they were hoping for. However, with a 2.54 ERA and a 1.34 WHIP in 28 1/3 innings this season, the prospect of the Phillies putting him out for five innings is no longer as daunting as it once was.
However, it will soon be necessary to determine how the Phillies and manager Rob Thomson decide to move forward following Suárez’s Sunday start. Walker might be included in a six-man rotation to help protect the team’s best arms from wear and strain, but other players, like staff standout Zack Wheeler, are infamous habitual starters who want to start every fifth day.
The Phillies’ bullpen is already overcrowded, so adding Walker could mean cutting bait entirely with late spring training waiver claim acquisition Carlos Hernández or optioning established arms like situational left-hander Tanner Banks or recently scuffling Orion Kerkering to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.
Additionally, it will be fascinating to see what the Phillies decide to do with Walker and his future role. With plans to compromise and divide the cost of Walker’s remaining contract, the organization may attempt to leverage his recent success into a small deal with a pitching-starved competitor in order to provide some payroll relief to the franchise.
However, there is a chance that Walker may stay in the rotation for a while as the squad keeps a careful eye on Suárez’s and Andrew Painter’s fitness. That being said, a decision about Walker’s future with the Phillies may eventually be made this weekend.
