The Phillies have a plan for Taijuan Walker when Aaron Nola returns

DENVER — Taijuan Walker made his go back to the Philadelphia Phillies rotation on Wednesday towards the Colorado Rockies. However, supervisor Rob Thomson made transparent on Wednesday that Walker beginning once more as soon as injured teammate Aaron Nola returns isn’t within the plans.

Nola used to be positioned at the 15-day injured record on Friday with a sprained proper ankle. The damage opened a place within the rotation for Walker to go back as a starter towards the Rockies, one thing that he hasn’t accomplished since May 1 towards the Washington Nationals.

Since that get started towards Washington, the 32-year-old Walker has been utilized in lengthy aid out of the Phillies bullpen, racking up 6.0 innings over two appearances. He earned a three-inning save on May 7 at Tampa Bay, permitting only one hit and placing out seven throughout that span.

That roughly good fortune out of the bullpen has Thomson “excited” about what Walker can probably do for the Phillies the remainder of the season.

“I’m really excited to see him come out of bullpen when we put him back there, just to see if his stuff plays up,” Thomson stated ahead of Wednesday’s recreation. “The few times he’s come out (of the bullpen), the first one in Tampa was unbelievable, but even the second time out, the first couple innings were really good. So I’m kind of excited about it.”

Walker posted a 2.29 ERA in his first 4 begins of the season (19.2 innings), marking the second-best mark for him thru his first 4 begins of his 13-year MLB profession. Only in 2016 when he logged a 1.44 ERA thru 4 begins (25.0 innings) with the Seattle Mariners has Walker kicked off the marketing campaign with a decrease ERA.

That sturdy begin to this season additionally incorporated 10.2 scoreless innings in his first two begins, marking simply the 11th time since 1901 {that a} Phillies pitcher had blanked the opposition for 10-plus innings of their first two outings.

Still, regardless of the early good fortune, Thomson indicated that when Walker returns to the bullpen, he’ll most likely keep there, even forgoing the occasional spot get started if wanted.

“I think at some point we have to decide when Nola is back, even if we need a spot start, we come get somebody else,” Thomson stated. “Just leave him (Walker) wherever he’s at and keep him healthy.”