Taijuan Walker Back on Track as New York Mets Win Sixth Straight
NEW YORK - How do you deal with rebounding from a poor starting as a pitcher?
"You try to flush it quick," New York Mets starting pitcher Taijuan Walker said on Wednesday.
Friday night against the Atlanta Braves was as forgettable of an outing as they come. Walker surrendered eight runs in one inning pitched, as his ERA inflated from 2.79 to 3.45.
This time around, he was able to get back on solid ground, with six innings of two-run ball against the Cincinnati Reds.
“I could tell early on, he had a little juice in his eyes," Mets manager Buck Showalter said following Wednesday afternoon's game. "He was carrying a pretty good fastball early on. He got out of himself a few times. He jumped 40 something pitches from the last outing, I didn’t want him to go back out there for the seventh.
"He had a couple moments in the game where he had to get it a little bit and he did. He made a lot of pitches when it looked like it had the potential to get away from him."
Walker said that his fastball location was on point today, and he rolled with that in order to have a successful outing.
"My fastball location was good today. Splitter wasn’t very good. Slider was OK," Walker said. "Fastball location was really good today, so I was able to attack. The offense did a good job putting runs up early. They scored the first three, four innings, got a little cushion there, so I was able to attack with my fastball, and kind of get back in the groove."
The California native said he has gotten away from his splitter, which he called his best pitch, since the Mets last played down in Miami.
Walker has thrown his splitter and fastball nearly the same amount this year, a bit of a change from earlier in his career.
Since 2020, Walker has thrown his fastball essentially half as much as he once did. This season, he has thrown his splitter more than he ever has.
"(My splitter) has been really good all year, I think it started in the Miami start, I just kind of got away from it a little bit," Walker said. "I think I was focused on the slider so much that I kind of lost focus of my splitter, and my splitter is my best pitch.
"This next week, I’ve got an extra day, so I’m really going to hammer it, and try to get it back, because it’s my best pitch.”
Regardless, Walker's strong start is just the latest in a string of quality starts for Mets pitchers, even if he didn't have all his tools working.
As a staff, he said the mentality doesn't change, no matter who the team is playing.
“No matter who the opponent is, we play the same way every time," Walker said. "We still have to go out their and handle business.”
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