Taijuan Walker’s ‘hot spot’ on finger is impacting his splitter and may cause him to miss next start

Rob Thomson is “not sure yet” if Taijaun Walker will make his next scheduled start.

Walker said he was feeling “100% fine” following Friday’s game, in which he allowed three home runs across four innings in a 5-4 loss to Arizona. But a meeting with Thomson on Saturday revealed a “hot spot” on Walker’s right index finger, which Thomson believes is affecting his splitter. Walker’s next turn in the rotation is scheduled for June 23 in Detroit.

“I think it’s been probably going on for a while. And he’s not going to admit to anything because he’s a competitor,” Thomson said. “He doesn’t want to tell his opponents that he’s had a problem with splitter.”

Walker’s splitter is typically his most effective weapon. He threw it 33.2% of the time in 2023, but has turned to it only 17.4% of the time this year. Batters are hitting .426 against the pitch so far this season, a significant uptick from .205 last year.

On Friday, Walker threw his splitter only nine times out of 77 pitches. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. got ahold of it in the second inning with a solo home run to left field that helped put the Phillies into an early hole.

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“He’s got to throw it more, so he’s got to be healthy enough to throw it more,” Thomson said.

Last month, Walker said he was developing a blister on his finger from throwing his splitter, which caused him to tinker with his grip.

Walker played catch on Saturday morning to test out his finger. Thomson doesn’t know yet whether the hot spot could turn into a stint on the IL, but if Walker is ruled out for next week, Spencer Turnbull is “in the conversation” to take over his start.

Turnbull came in for Walker in relief on Friday and pitched three innings, allowing two hits and zero earned runs, to go with two strikeouts.

The last time the Diamondbacks were in town, Orion Kerkering was still trying to catch his breath.

He’d been called up to the major leagues a month prior, after ascending through five levels of pro baseball in one season, and was immediately thrust in front of crowds 30,000 strong to help with a playoff push.

The Phillies’ NLCS loss to Arizona was a disappointing conclusion to that whirlwind month. Kerkering appeared in four out of the seven games in the series, including three losses. In Game 3, he was unable to record an out and ultimately allowed the tying run. In Game 4, he walked two batters in the seventh inning. In Game 6, he gave up another run in the seventh. His own postseason experience ended after that inning, and the Phillies’ postseason ended the next day later with the Game 7 loss.

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Kerkering said he’s put those results behind him. But he also thinks that postseason experience can only help now that he’s going through a full major league season for the first time.

“It’s like when you teach a baby how to swim, like when they’re a 1 year old and you just kind of throw them in, see what happens,” he said. “It’s not sink or swim. But let’s see what he can do on his own. So I think that was a really valuable experience.”

Kerkering went back to Florida after the NLCS and started working on developing his two-seam fastball to give himself another tool to work with. He said his confidence with the pitch is currently high. Even if he only throws it 10.7% of the time, just having it in his arsenal helps make his trademark sweeper more effective.

“I think it’s been really good. I think it’s just been like the different process of throwing it in, mixing it,” Kerkering said. “ … I’m still trying to figure out this process. I was throwing the slider for so long, I figured it out. But now it’s like, first year, so trying to figure it out, get used to it.”

The addition has helped Kerkering to a 1.69 ERA this season. Hitters have trouble making solid contact against him — his hard hit rate of 27.7% is 98th percentile leaguewide.

Kyle Schwarber started in left field on Saturday, marking his second start in the outfield of the season. Alec Bohm was the designated hitter. … Cristopher Sánchez (4-3, 2.91 ERA) is scheduled to start in Sunday morning’s series finale against the Diamondbacks’ Slade Cecconi (2-5, 5.90).