Philadelphia Phillies Could Reportedly Make Changes to Their Rotation Soon

The Philadelphia Phillies have been utterly dominant so far this season, owning the best record in baseball entering the final day of May.

With a roster as stacked as theirs, it's no surprise they've been able to beat many of the inferior opponents on their schedule. But there were very few people out there who thought they'd be 6.5 games ahead of the Atlanta Braves heading into summer.

The Phillies' goal was to get off to a strong start after their past two campaigns have seen them sputter early.

It's safe to say this was achieved, but they're not just satisfied with being good in the regular season. For them to accomplish their ultimate goal of hoisting the World Series trophy, they're going to need to be firing on all cylinders when the calendar flips to fall.

One area that Philadelphia still seems to be figuring out is their starting rotation.

That might sound crazy based upon them owning the best ERA as a unit with a 2.68, but outside of Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, there are questions if what Ranger Suarez and Cristopher Sanchez are doing is sustainable throughout the year and into the playoffs.

Even if the two young starters silence the doubters, an ara of concern has been Taijuan Walker's performance so far this season.

After starting out on the injured list, he's returned to the rotation and has posted a 5.51 ERA over six starts where opposing lineups are hitting .310 against him.

What's causing the downfall of the right-hander is that his best pitch, the splitter, has not been effective this year as batters have a .515 average and .758 slugging percentage when getting that pitch.

In comparison, Walker generated a .205 batting average and a .295 slugging percentage using his splitter during 2023.

Manager Rob Thomson continues to say he thinks the veteran is starting to reach his normal baseline, but if that doesn't happen, there could be some changes coming according to Matt Gelb of The Athletic.

"Walker is guaranteed at least one more start — Sunday night against the St. Louis Cardinals. After that, the Phillies have a chance to reassess the rotation," he writes.

What makes things a bit worse for the 31-year-old is that he replaced Spencer Turnbull in the rotation who had been completely dominant with a 1.67 ERA across his six starts.

What the Phillies might decide to do if Walker can't figure things out is unknown.

Moving him into the bullpen could be an option, but $18 million per season for a reliever through 2026 is quite the high-priced backend arm.

Hopefully he figures things out soon and Philadelphia can put this problem behind them.