Injured Philadelphia Phillies Starter May Be Back Sooner Than Expected
The Philadelphia Phillies’ Taijuan Walker has made two injury rehab starts and he has a bullpen session coming up this week.
Injured Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker has made just two rehab starts so far and will be in Philadelphia to throw a bullpen session on Friday.
Things could get interesting after that. According to MLB.com, there is a chance that Walker could be activated from the 15-day injured list much sooner than expected. The report didn’t specify how long after.
That would be a quick ramp-up for Walker, who went on the injured list with a right shoulder impingement at the start of the season.
Walker told MLB.com that he feels he's ready to return.
“I told them I felt good,” Walker said. “Yeah, I told them we built up enough. I thought my stuff was pretty sharp yesterday. Got outs, you know. I mean, I believe that in a different environment, a little more adrenaline, stuff just plays up a little bit more.”
Walker made his second injury rehab start on Tuesday with Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he allowed three hits, three walks and struck out one in 4.2 innings of work. His fastball velocity remained consistent from his first rehab start and touched as high as 92 mph.
Perhaps the most important part of the equation is that Walker threw 78 pitches, a week after throwing 47 pitches in his first rehab start at Class A Clearwater.
The Phillies’ original plan was for Walker to make four rehab starts, with a goal of going up in 15-pitch increments until he reached 100 pitches. That would have put him on track to return in early May.
With Clearwater he was expected to throw 60 pitches but he only threw 47 as he tossed four innings.
So Walker jumped 31 pitches from his first start to his second start. So, in reality he’s back on pace. But, jumping that many pitches between rehab starts may indicate Walker is further along than the Phillies expected.
The bullpen may give the Phillies a true indication of whether Walker is ready to be activated or needs at least one more rehab start.
The good news is the Phillies don’t have to rush. The rest of the starting rotation is healthy.
Walker is an 11-year veteran who played his first season with the Phillies last year, as he went 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA in 31 starts. He struck out 138 and walked 71 in 172.2 innings, the last of which was a career-high for the 31-year-old.
Walker has also pitched for Seattle, Arizona and Toronto and has a career record of 69-56 with a 3.97 ERA.
