Phillies Place Taijuan Walker On 15-Day Injured Checklist

The Phillies introduced this morning that they’ve positioned right-hander Taijuan Walker on the 15-day injured listing on account of irritation in his proper index finger. Proper-hander Michael Mercado was recalled to the majors in a corresponding transfer. Mercado’s first look will probably be his large league debut.

Walker, 32 in August, has had a tough 2024 season as he’s handled each accidents and ineffectiveness. A shoulder impingement delayed his season debut till the tail finish of April, and he’s struggled significantly in ten begins since then. The righty sports activities a 5.60 ERA and 5.77 FIP total on the season, figures which might be 37% and 40% worse than the league common respectively. Simply two of Walker’s ten appearances have been high quality begins, and opponents have batted an eye-popping .278/.353/.511 towards him in seven begins relationship again to Could 16. In different phrases, Walker’s opponents have teed off in latest weeks to realize outcomes roughly similar to these Guardians star Jose Ramirez (.271/.330/.528) has posted this season.

Walker’s struggles got here to a head Friday night time towards the Diamondbacks, when the righty allowed 4 runs on 5 hits and three walks throughout simply 4 innings of labor whereas placing out solely three batters. Supervisor Rob Thomson informed reporters (as famous by MLB.com’s Injury Tracker) yesterday that Walker was coping with a “scorching spot” on his finger and advised that the difficulty has “been in all probability occurring for some time.” Particularly, Thomson advised that the damage might have impacted the efficacy of Walker’s splitter. The splitter was Walker’s mostly used pitch final 12 months, when he threw it 33.2% of the time according to Statcast. That utilization has dropped to simply 17.4% in 2024, and MLB.com notes that he’s thrown the pitch simply sixteen occasions complete over his previous two begins.

That drop in utilization has corresponded with a drop in efficacy. 2023 noticed opposing hitters hit simply .205 towards Walker’s splitter, with a .295 slugging proportion and a .257 wOBA. These sturdy outcomes are a far cry for what the right-hander has produced with the pitch this 12 months, as opponents have hit a whopping .426 with a .704 slugging proportion and a wOBA of .477. That .426 determine is the best common allowed by Walker on any pitch this 12 months, in sharp distinction to final 12 months the place his splitter boasted a decrease common towards than any pitch in his repertoire apart from his rarely-used sweeper.

Given the truth that Walker’s finger situation has seemingly impacted his capacity to throw his most vital pitch, it’s hardly a shock that the right-hander has suffered such excessive difficulties so far within the season. Going ahead, the Phillies will sit the righty down for no less than the subsequent two weeks with a purpose to give the irritation time to quiet down. It’s absolutely a reasonably straightforward determination for Philadelphia to not have Walker proceed to attempt to play by the difficulty given the presence of right-hander Spencer Turnbull. Turnbull has been glorious for the membership this 12 months whereas swinging between the rotation and the bullpen, with a 2.63 ERA and three.57 FIP in 51 1/3 innings throughout 16 appearances (six begins).

Whereas Turnbull has not began a sport since late April, the righty threw 49 pitches in his most up-to-date outing on Friday and figures to have the ability to step into the rotation and supply the Phillies stable manufacturing in Walker’s stead. That leaves the lengthy reduction function out of the bullpen to Mercado, who is ready to exchange Walker on the membership’s roster. Mercado was the Rays’ second-round choose within the 2017 draft however didn’t make an look on the large league stage with the membership earlier than being traded to the Phillies again in November. Philadelphia swiftly positioned Mercado on their 40-man roster and despatched him to Triple-A to open the season, the place he’s excelled with a 1.71 ERA and a 22.8% strikeout fee in 47 1/3 innings of labor cut up between the rotation and bullpen on the stage.