The last thing I was expecting to hear from Philadelphia Phillies manager Rob Thomson during the first week of spring training was gloating about Taijuan Walker. For some reason, Thomson and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski were impressed with what they saw from him on Wednesday.
“He looked very good,” Thomson said during a team press conference. “He commanded the baseball, both sides of the plate. He spun the ball very well. He looks like he’s on a mission, and it looks like he worked extremely hard.”
On a mission? To what, steal another $72 million? This Walker contract is without a doubt one of the worst for the Phillies in recent history.
Taijuan Walker’s contract is a bad deal
Walker and the Phillies agreed on a four-year, $72 million deal in 2023 and are still on the hook to pay him $18 million per year through 2026. Walker is headed into his 13th season as a major league pitcher at the age of 32. The odds of him somehow returning to who he was with the Diamondbacks in 2017 or the Mets in 2021-22 are highly unlikely.
I defended and supported Taijuan Walker after the 2023 season. He gave the Phillies 15 wins with an ERA+ of 98 while throwing over 172 innings. He ate innings, was productive, and benefited from good run support. Then 2024 happened.
He went from starting pitcher to Italian chef with all the meatballs he was serving opposing teams. He ranked in the bottom one percent in all of baseball in the following categories: exit velocity, expected batting average, expected slugging, weighted on-base average, expected weighted on-base average, expected weighted on-base average on contact, and expected ERA. On top of that, he was bottom three percent in strikeout percentage. It became impossible to defend him or trust him on the mound, he finished the season with a -1.6 WAR.
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The Phillies believe in Walker to turn things around
The velocity on his fastball was gone and he couldn’t locate and his spitter was getting tagged to the tune of a .380 batting average.
“His velocity was very solid, much better today than it was at the beginning of last spring training by a great deal,” Dombrowski said. “Just his overall movements on the mound, command of the fastball, his delivery, I thought he looked so much smoother than he did last year.”
That is encouraging to hear. I want Taijuan Walker to succeed. You can’t have enough pitching, especially if you’re already paying them $18 million a year. The truth of the matter is, that there is not much room for him. The Phillies have one of the strongest five-man rotations in baseball right now without him, that’s before you take into account highly touted prospect Andrew Painter will be in the mix come this summer. Walker is looking at a long relief role or getting traded if any team sees any promise in him this spring and wants to take on any of that contract.
It would be great if there was some resurgence from the 32-year-old in his 13th season and it forces the Phillies to make a very difficult decision while deciding the roster. That being said, it’s been one week at camp. We’ll see how he fairs this spring.
