DUNEDIN, Fla. — One of the indelible images of last spring came during a rare night game, on the road against the Baltimore Orioles, when Taijuan Walker looked broken. He could barely crack 90 mph. He surrendered three homers and walked three others. A few days later, he complained of shoulder soreness.
That’s how one of the worst seasons ever by a Phillies pitcher began.
“It was really a bad year,” Walker said Sunday afternoon. “I feel like I’m a lot better pitcher than that. And I think today was kind of the start to where I’m getting back to my normal self.”
It’s fine if this whole thing is met with considerable skepticism. Walker is something of a pariah; he’s owed $36 million over the next two seasons and he does not have a guaranteed spot on this Phillies roster. But that makes the 32-year-old righty one of the more interesting characters in an anticlimactic Phillies spring training.
He threw a fastball at 93.9 mph in Sunday’s two-inning outing against the Toronto Blue Jays, which is notable because that matched his maximum velocity from last season. He sat 93 mph. His splitter had its old, biting action; Walker recorded four outs on the pitch. The lone run he surrendered was on a decent 2-2 slider, down and in, that Daulton Varsho golfed over the right-field fence. Walker did all of this against Toronto’s best hitters.
Phillies officials have spent the past three weeks complimenting Walker whenever possible. That is not by accident; Walker might be most valuable as a trade chip, although it is difficult to imagine another club surrendering much, even if the Phillies eat the remaining money.
But he’s in better shape. Walker was throwing 89 mph this time last spring.
“I was really impressed,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “He’s put a lot of work in. I’m proud of him.”
If anything, the Phillies are paying attention. They had a split squad Sunday and, 99 times out of 100, the manager will stay with the team at home. But Thomson took the six-mile bus ride to TD Ballpark. So did Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski, accompanied by one of his most-trusted scouts, David Chadd. They watched from the stands behind home plate.
The Phillies have five starters. They have an opening in the bullpen, although they signed Joe Ross to be a swingman. That’s the role Walker would hypothetically fill if the Phillies keep him.
So, now what?
“Who knows?” Thomson said. “Jobs are up for grabs. The best guy is going to get it.”
As a reliever, right?
“No, rotation,” Thomson said. “I mean, if somebody else doesn’t throw well and he’s throwing great, you know? Who knows what’s going to happen? We’ve got a ways to go yet. And usually it works itself out.”
This is true. Injuries happen every spring, and if the Phillies suffer a loss to their rotation between now and March 27 (Opening Day), Walker might be the cleanest replacement. That would require the team to value his spring performance over last season’s 7.10 ERA in 83 2/3 innings. There is enough evidence, even halfway through spring training, to suggest that Walker is a different pitcher than the one who was embarrassed in 2024. Is that enough to make him useful for the 2025 Phillies?
“Since the first day of spring training, everything is looking good,” catcher Rafael Marchán said.”Like, it’s jumping. His heater. His split is nasty. I mean, every pitch that he threw today was really good. I like the way that he’s been throwing the ball because he looked confident. He looked healthy. And that’s the most important thing. I’m happy for him and happy to see what he can do.”
Walker shrugged.
“The biggest thing for me is I can just control what I can control,” Walker said. “Go out there and get results. Pitch the best I can pitch. And whatever happens, happens. We have five really good pitchers. So my thing is just go out there, get outs. Just pitch as well as I can and leave it up to them.”
There is more to Walker’s failures in 2024 than velocity, but it counts for a lot. He could not get the proper action on his splitter — his best pitch — last season. Rather than dive, it traveled right into barrels. He was at least able to keep Toronto hitters from sitting on a certain pitch; they had to respect the splitter. So, the fastball played better in the zone.
It’s not worthwhile to dissect two innings in a Grapefruit League game, but the underlying metrics supported what the Phillies have been touting. Walker is in better shape. They had him on a weighted-ball program over the offseason in Phoenix. They sent bullpen coach César Ramos to check on him. Walker filmed all of his sessions and made sure Phillies coaches, athletic trainers and strength coaches received video of them.
He’s still a sizable investment for the club. But Walker’s salary is a mere 6 percent of the 2025 payroll. The Phillies could have released him last September, deeming him a sunk cost, and no one would have argued.
They’re still far from determining that he is useful to this year’s team. But, if Walker has a solid spring, there is a decent case to be made that stashing him in the bullpen is more valuable than saving a few million dollars or fetching a lottery-ticket prospect.
The Phillies have one open bullpen spot. No one has made a strong first impression in the initial Grapefruit League action. Teams like having two or three multi-inning relievers for April. But carrying Walker as a reliever would make the Phillies rather inflexible; the only relievers with minor-league options would be Tanner Banks and Orion Kerkering.
“My thing is just to get built up like a starter and see where it goes,” Walker said. “Spring, it’s hard for everyone to stay healthy. So I’m going to be ready for any role.”
This is what counts for drama in this Phillies camp. No team has ever regretted having too many competent starting pitchers. That’s not a high bar for Walker, whom Trea Turner and other teammates have said looks more relaxed.
“I know it’s early, but he faced their guys,” Turner said. “That’s their lineup and he looked composed attacking the zone. He looked like his old self.”
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(Photo: Nathan Ray Seebeck / Imagn Images)
