Walker didn’t pitch in the postseason last year, which he was upset about. He is going to try to show the Phillies he can be productive out of the bullpen, with the hopes of earning a spot on the postseason roster.
“I guess it’s up to me,” Walker said. “I have to show them that I can come out of the bullpen and be effective. And i’m going to work really hard to do that. I want to be a part of [the postseason]. It sucks not being a part of it and not help out the team. Anything I can do to help out the team, whether it’s one inning, two innings, or whatever they need, I’m going to go out there and do the best I can and try to be a part of it.”
Walker was put on a weighted ball program to increase his velocity during his stint on the injured list from June 22-Aug. 12. He and the Phillies believe that if he continues that program throughout the offseason, he should see more results next year.
“I think it should [help],” Walker said. “We did it so quickly. We did it for a month. I thought it helped my splitter tick up a little bit. So that was a plus, but I think having a whole offseason of doing the program should help out.”
Walker conceded that he could’ve done the program last offseason to set him up for success this year, but said he wasn’t as familiar with it. Now, he is and plans to pick up where he left off. His primary goal is to create more separation between his fastball and his splitter.
“The fact that my splitter is still 88 mph and my fastball is only 91-92 mph, that’s kind of confusing for me,” Walker said. “But the separation — it needs to be a bigger separation to have an effect.”
Taijuan Walker said he was not surprised when he was approached about moving to the bullpen on Thursday afternoon. The right-handed pitcher is in the midst of the worst season of his career. He has a 6.50 ERA over 14 starts, and a 9.17 mark over his last four.
“It hasn’t been easy,” Walker said. “[I’m trying] to stay confident in myself, knowing that I’ve done it for so long and I’ve been good.
“But it’s kind of my first year that I’ve kind of been bad all year. Usually, I have moments where it’s bad, and I have moments where it’s really good. And I just haven’t had that this year.”
Almost everything that could’ve gone wrong has gone wrong for Walker over the past few months. His velocity has dipped, his control and command have wavered, and his strikeout rate has dropped. He is unable to eat innings without putting the Phillies at a significant run deficit, so he’s going to try to pitch in relief.
Walker has only pitched out of the bullpen a handful of times in the majors and hasn’t done it since 2014. He doesn’t have much minor league experience to draw upon, either. He made only four appearances out of the bullpen in his entire minor league career, all of them in 2010, when he was in rookie ball.
He said he will begin the transition to the bullpen on Tuesday. It’ll be a big change. Walker will have to learn how to cut down on his pregame routine and figure out how many pitches he wants to lean on in a given at-bat (right now, he throws six). But he is hoping it’s a positive change.
“Obviously, I haven’t been pitching well, haven’t been doing my job,” he said. “We’re getting to the last month of the season. These games count; these games matter. So not surprised at all. I’ve just got to do a better job.”
Taijuan Walker has a 6.50 ERA over 14 starts this season.
Monica Herndon
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