3 Phillies Playing Their Final Home Series in Philadelphia 

2. Taijuan Walker

The Walker experience has been one to forget for Phillies fans this season. The veteran starting pitcher has struggled mightily on the mound. Walker has a skyrocketing 7.18 ERA as a starter, which isn’t good.

Opponents are slashing .314/.383/.591 with 22 home runs in 15 starts. Also, the 32-year-old pitcher has had issues in the first inning this season. Walker has a 6.60 ERA and has allowed 11 earned runs.

This has been a starling trend for Walker, who struggled in the first inning last season (7.70 ERA and allowed 24 earned runs). With Walker having trouble as the Phillies’ fifth starter, manager Rob Thomson moved the veteran to the bullpen late last month.

In the bullpen, Walker showed some success as the Phillies’ long reliever, posting a 4.50 ERA in three appearances. Opponents still hit .303 off the right-handed pitcher, but he only allowed four earned runs (two home runs) in eight innings pitched.

However, Walker’s bullpen stint didn’t last long as Thomson gave him the start on Thursday night against the New York Mets. And as one expected, it didn’t go well. Walker got lit up for eight earned runs (four home runs) and six hits in 3.1 innings pitched. He also allowed three walks and only struck out two hitters.

That performance from Walker summed up his Phillies’ experience in a nutshell over the last two years. Based on his struggles, it wouldn’t be a shock to see Dave Dombrowski move on in the offseason. 

Walker is still owed $18 million in 2025 and ‘26, which isn’t a small amount of cash. But there are always teams looking to acquire guys who can eat up innings as a fourth or fifth starter.