Philadelphia Phillies Star Pitcher Returns For Pivotal Start

The Philadelphia Phillies were concerned about Taijuan Walker in his recent starts. His velocity was gone and his control had dipped over his past few appearances, prompting manager Rob Thomson to give him an extra day of rest.

They'll get their star pitcher back in a pivotal game against the San Francisco Giants on Tuesday. What can be expected in his return to the mound is unclear.

Walker has been great for the Phillies this season after coming over from the New York Mets in free agency during the offseason. He's tied for second in the MLB with 13 wins across his 24 starts.

It seemed like he was taking his game to the next level before he got his "dead arm." Over his last 15 starts, he recorded a record of 10-3 with a 2.89 ERA. What caught the eye of Thomson and others was when his ERA shot up to 4.25 during his last seven starts and it looked like he wasn't locating pitches with velocity.

Walker isn't the first starter for Philadelphia this season who has gotten an extra day off. Michael Lorenzen got extended rest after his no-hitter followed his eight-inning outing.

The Phillies are hoping that Walker's return to the mound after time off goes better than Lorenzen's.

After no-hitting the Washington Nationals, Lorenzen was tagged for six earned runs on eight hits in 3.1 innings pitched against the same team. Some of that can be attributed to the familiarity between the batter and pitcher facing each other again.

Philadelphia needs Walker to return back to the "star pitcher" form that he's shown throughout this season. He'll get the opportunity to prove if the rest he was given paid off or if there's a larger issue lurking.