Philadelphia Phillies Veteran Flops In Season Debut

Taijuan Walker's season debut for the Philadelphia Phillies wasn't worth the wait.

Apr 28, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99). / Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

Taijuan Walker hadn't pitched in an MLB game in nearly seven months, and it showed.

The Philadelphia Phillies veteran looked rusty and ineffective in his season debut against the San Diego Padres on Sunday, getting tagged for six runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 winnings at Petco Park. Fortunately for him, the Phillies' offense was cooking with eight runs and 12 hits, helping him earn his first win since Sept. 4, 2023.

It's been a long layoff for Walker, who didn't pitch in last year's playoffs and opened the 2024 season on the injured list with right shoulder soreness. He made three rehab starts at Triple-A but pitched poorly, giving up seven runs on 12 hits and six walks with only six strikeouts in 15 innings.

Unfortunately, those struggles carried over into Sunday's outing as well. Walker started well with a pair of scoreless innings but surrendered three runs in the third, including two on a home run by Jake Cronenworth. His velocity was lacking and he didn't do a great job locating his pitches, resulting in a lot of loud contact.

Taijuan Walker made his 1st start of the season and was very ineffective

He allowed 6 ER, 8 H, and 2 BB including 2 HR. His arsenal graded out poorly as he failed to limit hard contact

Walker replaces Spencer Turnbull (1.33 ERA in 27.0 IP) in Philadelphia's rotation pic.twitter.com/WIdaapIHCc

— Thomas Nestico (@TJStats) April 28, 2024

Walker made it through the middle frames unscathed and appeared to be done with Philadelphia taking a 7-3 lead into the bottom of the seventh. However, manager Rob Thomson bizarrely brought Walker back out rather than go to his bullpen. The move quickly backfired when Walker surrendered a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Luis Campusano that cut the Phillies' lead to one.

The damage might have been even worse, too, had Walker not helped his own cause with this insane web gem in the bottom of the second -- one of his few highlights on the day.

Abracadabra or whatever the heck just happened 😳 pic.twitter.com/SdCV4pdQqO

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) April 28, 2024

Philadelphia fans were quick to note that Walker has already allowed more earned runs (six) than Spencer Turnbull, the man he replaced in the rotation, in 20 2/3 fewer innings. If Walker doesn't straighten out soon, he could end up losing his starting job to Turnbull.

The 31-year-old righty will try to bounce back in his next scheduled start against the San Francisco Giants at home.