‘I’m better than this:’ Taijuan Walker’s struggles continue as Phillies drop series opener vs. Royals

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Taijuan Walker and Michael Wacha both made their debuts in 2013. Wacha was 21; Walker was 20. The two pitchers have shown flashes of dominance but only one has found sustained success in his later years — and he was not pitching for the Phillies on Friday night.

At 33, Wacha, who signed with the Kansas City Royals in December, has seen his velocity increase. He’s allowed less hard contact than he ever has. He’s found ways to adapt, and is reaping the benefits. It’s a stark contrast from Walker, who has seen his velocity drop, and his hard-hit rate skyrocket to a career high 49.2% in 2024.

That contrast couldn’t have been more apparent than it was on Friday. Wacha pitched six innings; Walker was done after three, and needed 78 pitches to get through them. He struggled to get ahead in counts, and allowed a lot of hard contact.

When he walked off the mound, he’d given up six earned runs on eight hits — including two home runs — with one walk and two strikeouts. All of a sudden, a Phillies team in desperate need of a win was looking up at a 6-1 deficit entering the fourth inning.

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“It wasn’t good,” Walker said of his outing. “Not throwing the right pitches in the right counts, getting behind in counts, still. Giving up the home run ball. It just hasn’t been good lately. Especially, you want to help the team as much as possible. Obviously I feel like we’re not playing great, but it’d be nice for myself to pick the team up, and we just haven’t really done that. So, it’s frustrating.”

The lineup tried to chip away at that deficit. After Brandon Marsh put his team on the board with an RBI single in the third inning, Bryce Harper hit a leadoff double in the fourth. Nick Castellanos drove him home on a ground out.

Reliever Kris Bubic threw a wild pitch with the bases loaded to score Harper in the eighth, and Bryson Stott piled on with a sacrifice fly to score Alec Bohm. After three poor offensive showings in Atlanta, it was a better night for the lineup. A few players who badly needed it — like Harper and Marsh — had two-hit nights. As a whole, they seemed to be less perplexed by off-speed pitches as they had in recent games.

But the dilemma that Walker presents goes way beyond a 7-4 loss in late August. Starting pitching carried the Phillies through the first half. Having a fifth starter with a 6.26 ERA on the season is unsustainable for a team with postseason aspirations.

Manager Rob Thomson was quick to point out that Walker’s velocity had ticked up on Friday, and said that gives him optimism that his starter will work his way out of this. But when asked if Walker would make his next scheduled start, Thomson couldn’t say for sure.

“We haven’t talked about it yet,” Thomson said.

There isn’t a ton of depth behind Walker. Spencer Turnbull is still on the injured list and wouldn’t be stretched out enough to start, anyway. Tyler Phillips, who was sent to Lehigh Valley on Aug. 17, struggled in his first start back in the minor leagues. Mick Abel has a 5.88 ERA through 20 starts at triple A with 66 walks.

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Seth Johnson, who the Phillies acquired at the trade deadline, is an option, but like Abel, he has yet to make his big league debut. Kolby Allard, who was optioned to Lehigh Valley on Aug. 9, has a 4.50 ERA this month, across two big league starts and two starts at triple A. There are no obvious solutions here. The easiest solution, right now, is to fix whatever is ailing Walker.

Both he and catcher J.T. Realmuto say he’s working on it. Walker’s biggest problem is twofold: He’s allowing too much hard contact because he’s frequently getting behind in counts. His chase rate and whiff rate both rank in the bottom-fifth percentile in the sport, according to Baseball Savant. When he throws out of the zone, hitters aren’t swinging. And he doesn’t have the pinpoint command to incur much swing and miss in the zone.

“I think it’s just getting behind in counts [is the biggest thing],” Walker said. “Not attacking the zone. Not putting myself in good counts. That’s probably the biggest thing, really. Leaving balls over the middle because I’m getting [behind] 1-0, 2-0, 2-1, and that’s really the biggest thing.”

For now, it’s back to the drawing board. It’s clear that neither Walker, nor the Phillies, envisioned this when they agreed to a four-year, $72 million contract in December of 2022.

“I know that I’m better than this,” Walker said. “I’ve proven it before. I’ve just got to keep my confidence and know it’s going to turn around, and trust my stuff and just attack and really trust everything that I have. And know that I’m better than what I’m showing right now.”

The bullpen was put in a tough spot after Walker exited, but did a good job of preventing further damage. Tyler Gilbert allowed one earned run on two hits over two innings, and the next three relievers — Max Lazar, José Alvarado, and Tanner Banks — didn’t allow another run. Lazar struck out MVP contender Bobby Witt Jr. in the sixth.

Gilbert was optioned after Friday’s game to clear a spot on the active roster for Ranger Suárez, who will start on Saturday.