Phillies Former Pitcher Taijuan Walker Lands With New Team

Another MLB team is taking a shot on Taijuan Walker after the Philadelphia Phillies released him near the end of April.

Apr 17, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Bill Streicher-Imagn Images

The Philadelphia Phillies shook up their pitching staff earlier this season when they released Taijuan Walker.

In the final year of a four-year, $72 million contract signed ahead of the 2023 season, the Phillies decided it was better to eat the remaining money on the deal than have Walker continue to pitch for them.

When Zack Wheeler was healthy enough to return to the starting rotation, Walker was released. That occurred near the end of April, and now he is set to try to make his way back to the Major Leagues with a new team.

As shared by Jeff Fletcher of the SoCal News Group on X, Walker has signed a deal with the Los Angeles Angels. He isn’t joining the Big League club right away, as he is set to report to the team’s complex in Arizona.

Taijuan Walker joining Angels

Mar 30, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) reacts against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. | Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Walker will look to ramp things up at Tempe Diablo Stadium, where the Angels do spring training and where their Arizona Complex League team plays. It will certainly be interesting to see how he looks against that level of competition and what he has left to offer, because he did not perform well with Philadelphia this year.

He was being counted on out of the gate to provide the team with reliable, inning-eating at the back end of the rotation, similar to what he gave last year. But the 2026 version of Walker was not close to the 2025 version.

Through five appearances and 22.2 innings pitched, he was tattooed by opposing hitters. He had a 9.13 ERA and -0.7 bWAR. Only 17 strikeouts and 11 issues were walked, and he surrendered eight home runs.

The Angels have signed Taijuan Walker to a minor league deal. He’ll report to Arizona.

He was released by the Phillies earlier this season.

— Jeff Fletcher (@JeffFletcherOCR) May 23, 2026

Opposing batters produced a .353/.417/.657 slash line against him with a ghastly 7.0% home run rate. His 14.8% strikeout rate was the lowest of his career, and the 9.6% walk rate was the second worst, behind 2023 and 2024, when he was at 9.7%.

It is not a stretch to say Walker was the least effective pitcher in baseball this year. His Baseball Savant page features a lot of dark blue, which means he is performing well below the league average level.

He has a -19 Pitching Run Value, which is in the first percentile. His Fastball Run Value of -15 is also in the first percentile, while his Offspeed Run Value of -4 is in the fourth percentile. A Breaking Run Value of 0 is in the 39th percentile.

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