Saturday afternoon will mark the Philadelphia Phillies' 2025 spring training debut. They're set to face the Detroit Tigers at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, FL at 1:05 p.m. ET as several Phillies are fighting for their jobs this spring, including veteran pitcher Taijuan Walker.
Walker is coming off a horrendous 2024 performance that had fans questioning if he still had a future in Philadelphia. The former 2010 first-rounder has been working hard this offseason to prove his doubters wrong and his dedication might be paying off judging by the praise he just received.
Phillies Spring Training: Rob Thomson Praises Taijuan Walker
On Friday, Phillies manager Rob Thomson spoke with reporters following a live batting practice. After Walker struck out the likes of J.T. Realmuto and Max Kepler during the session, Thomson had nothing but praise to share regarding the 32-year-old righty.
"I’m so proud of (Walker). The work that he’s put in, I mean, he looks better than he did when he won 15 games (in 2023)," Thomson said, per MLB.com's Todd Zolecki. "He was good that year in Spring Training, but I think he’s better this year.”
Phillies fans would love nothing more than for Walker to return to his 2023 form. The Shreveport, LA native posted a career-high 15 wins that season while pitching to a 4.38 ERA, 1.309 WHIP, and 7.2 strikeouts per nine innings. It was the type of performance Philadelphia envisioned him having when he signed his four-year, $72 million contract in December 2022.
Unfortunately, Walker didn't come close to matching those numbers in 2024. He went an uninspiring 3-7 across 19 appearances (15 starts), tallying a personal-worst 7.10 ERA and 1.721 WHIP. The 24 home runs he allowed were just three fewer than the career-worst he set in 2016 despite playing nearly 51 fewer innings last year.
Time will tell if Walker's offseason training will have paid off enough to land him a rotational role. If not, Thomson said he's open to using the former All-Star RHP as a "multi-innings reliever" as long as he "maintains his stuff."
Walker has two years remaining on his contract and is due $18 million in each season. If he can't live up to that dollar figure early on in the 2025 campaign, don't be surprised if the Phillies try to move him ahead of the 2025 trade deadline.
For now, Phillies fans will eagerly await Walker's spring training debut to see if his alleged improvements live up to the hype.