Phillies’ Taijuan Walker could be headed to injured list after his shoulder ‘didn’t feel right’

Manager Rob Thomson also said reliever Orion Kerkering will start on the injured list after falling behind in camp because of a weeklong bout with the flu.

Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker is undergoing tests on his right (throwing) shoulder, and the team expects to have the results Sunday.Read moreYong Kim / Staff Photographer

by Scott Lauber

Published March 23, 2024, 6:05 p.m. ET

TAMPA, Fla. — As Taijuan Walker loosened in preparation for a between-starts bullpen session Saturday, he felt a stiffness in his right shoulder.

And suddenly, the Phillies’ have an injury concern with a starting pitcher.

Walker went for tests in Clearwater, according to manager Rob Thomson, and the Phillies expect to have results Sunday. But Walker won’t start as scheduled Monday in the Grapefruit League finale and likely will begin the season on the injured list.

“He didn’t say ‘pain,’” Thomson said. “He just said it didn’t feel right.”

Thomson said reliever Orion Kerkering will start on the injured list after falling behind in camp because of a weeklong bout with the flu. If Walker joins him, right-hander Spencer Turnbull would move into the rotation. Turnbull was slated to pitch in relief Saturday but started instead and held the Yankees to three hits in three walk-free, scoreless innings.

Walker, lined up to start the fourth game of the season (April 1 against the Reds at Citizens Bank Park), was slowed earlier in the spring by soreness in his right knee. He got pounded for seven runs in 2⅔ innings Wednesday night against the Orioles and demonstrated only a slight uptick in fastball velocity to 90-92 mph.

“I feel like my body is moving so good right now,” Walker said after the game. “Very athletic. Moving quick. We’ve really been busting our [butts], working really hard.”

The Phillies signed Turnbull for $2 million last month for rotation depth, but didn’t expect to need to tap into him this soon. Once a promising part of the Detroit Tigers’ rotation, he has made just seven starts since 2021 because of injuries, including Tommy John surgery.

Turnbull added a sweeper — the slider variant that has become popular across baseball over the last two years — and threw it effectively against the Yankees. He struck out Aaron Judge with two runners on base in the first inning.

Until Saturday, the Phillies were preparing to keep Turnbull on the roster as a long reliever (read: starter insurance). Because all but one of his career appearances have come as a starter, they had him sit in the bullpen Thursday and Friday, even though he wasn’t scheduled to pitch in either game.

“Because I’ve never done it before,” Turnbull said. “I don’t really know the rhythm of sitting out in the ‘pen, trying to figure out what innings to get some stretching in. That’s all pretty new for me.”

Turnbull laughed about making only six throws in the bullpen before having to come into a March 16 game against the Astros.

“Didn’t really time that one great,” said Turnbull, who somehow didn’t allow a run in that appearance. “But I got it done in six. We know what the floor is. [Pitching coach] Caleb [Cotham] was like, ‘That’ll never happen again.’ I was like, ‘Good. Because that was a little rough.’ Not ideal. Didn’t feel my best going in there.”

Now, it seems Turnbull might be able to shelve his reliever preparation for a while.

An injury to Walker would have a ripple effect on the bullpen, too. With Turnbull moving to the rotation and Kerkering playing catch-up, the Phillies have three bullpen spots available for a group of candidates that includes Luis Ortiz, Yunior Marte, Connor Brogdon, and nonroster invitees José Ruiz and Andrew Bellatti.

“Any time we get something like that this late in spring, it’s a little bit concerning,” Thomson said. “That’s why you have all the depth.”

At the plate: Bryce Harper played first base, as expected, for five innings and went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly to center field against Yankees lefty Carlos Rodón in the first inning. ... It was a good day for Johan Rojas, who remains the front-runner for the center-field job. Rojas rolled a single to the left side and stole a base in the fourth inning and scored two runs. ... Cristian Pache notched three hits, including a ground-rule double in the second inning against Rodón.

On the mound: In a battle for what now might be the final bullpen spot, Brogdon hung a cutter to Oswaldo Cabrera for a two-run homer in the fourth inning; Bellatti gave up three runs on two hits and two walks and recorded only one out in the sixth inning; Ruiz tossed a scoreless fifth inning.

Quotable: “We have to do the right thing by him, and that is making sure that we don’t bury him offensively at the big-league level and then have to send him out. We’ve got to be very, very sure that he’s going to be able to perform and just keep his head above water,” Thomson said on Rojas’ chances of making the team.

On deck: New dad Aaron Nola will get his final spring-training tune-up at 1:05 p.m. Sunday against the Blue Jays in Clearwater (NBC Sports Philadelphia+, WIP FM). Nola’s wife gave birth to their first child, a daughter, last week.