Phillies believe Taijuan Walker will make a huge impact on their pitching staff

When news spread that Taijuan Walker had agreed to a four-year contract with the Phillies, he received a text from his friend and former New York Mets teammate, Francisco Lindor.

“I can’t wait for the battles,” Lindor wrote.

Walker can’t wait, either. The 30-year-old right-hander spent the past two seasons pitching in Queens, and credits the Mets — specifically, Carlos Carrasco — with helping him develop his splitter. Now, after coming off one of the best seasons of his career (12-5, 3.49 ERA in 29 starts), he will don red pinstripes at Citizens Bank Park.

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It’ll be an interesting transition, but Walker has already had some help in that regard. A few days ago, a mutual friend connected him with Ryan Howard, who told him what it’s like to experience playoff baseball in Philadelphia. He’s spoken with Jimmy Rollins, too. Texas Rangers outfielder Brad Miller, a close friend who played here in 2019 and 2021, told him that the Phillies’ clubhouse is the best he’s ever been a part of.

But beyond the testaments he’s heard from Howard, Rollins and Miller, there are other reasons why Walker is excited for this next stage in his career. Both he and president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski see Philadelphia as a place where Walker can flourish, as he enters what Dombrowski believes is the prime of his career.

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“He’s improved the last couple of years,” Dombrowski said. “Our pitching people look at his stuff and say, here’s some quality stuff on the mound, that [you can] win [with] on a consistent basis. We also think we can shape the pitches a little bit better, throw the split more.

“So, when you look at all of those things, you’re in a position where you say, ‘We’re here, and why can’t we get to [up] here?’ He’s only 30. So, it’s a great situation. And not that he couldn’t handle it, but he doesn’t have to be the guy. We’ve got four guys that are really good, and a youngster. So I think it’s a tremendous setting for him to be able to accomplish that. He won 12 games last year and it wouldn’t surprise me if he had quite a few more wins than that coming up.”

This vision of what the Phillies believe Walker could become appealed him. When he first met with Dombrowski, pitching coach Caleb Cotham, and manager Rob Thomson on a Zoom call, they communicated a rough plan for how to make the most of his pitches, particularly his splitter.

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Not only would the Phillies like to increase the usage of the pitch to roughly 35-40%, but they’d also like to have Walker use it in different counts than he had been previously using it. In the spring, Walker will focus on the development of his cutter and slider, which he believes could make his splitter even more effective.

Thirty-five to 40% would be a significant jump for Walker, who threw his splitter about 27.6% of the time in 2022, according to baseball savant. But he believes the pitch has transformed his career, and he is confident that under the guidance of Cotham, it’ll continue to do that.

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“It’s made a huge impact,” Walker said. “I’m getting ground balls with it. I’m getting swings-and-misses. I can throw it for strikes. And I think the more I throw it — Kevin Gausman did the same thing. He had a really good splitter, but he upped his usage to about 40-45%. And it did wonders for his career. I think by me upping my usage for that, I think it’ll help a lot.”

Walker credits Carrasco with helping him find the right grip for his splitter, but also said he has picked up other lessons from his former Mets teammates. He would watch Max Scherzer’s bullpen sessions and admired how Scherzer was able to keep up his intensity, even in non-game situations. Walker said he enjoyed watching Jacob deGrom attack hitters, too. But now he sees an opportunity to learn from a new group of pitchers, including Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola.

And, of course, he also sees an opportunity to stick it to his old teammates, particularly when he returns to Citi Field in late May.

“It’s going to be fun,” Walker said. “I know those guys really well. They’re my friends off the field but when we step on the field, they’re the enemy now.”