Another poor Taijuan Walker start emphasizes lack of options behind him which gave light to the introduction of new ace
The No. 5 starter spot comes up only one more time this year on Tuesday night against the Chicago Cubs. Maybe the Phillies will need more since they will likely play some meaningless games next weekend in Washington.
It will probably be Taijuan Walker again starting one of those games. Many will be upset, but that’s where the Phillies, who are tied for the best record in baseball at 91-62, are at right now.
In his quick return to the rotation, Walker became the second Phillies starter this year — Zack Wheeler being the other — to give up four home runs in a game in a 10-6 loss in front of an amped up crowd at Citi Field.
Walker pitched three scoreless innings against the Mets on Sept. 14 to help propel the Phillies to a 6-4 comeback win. That was enough for Rob Thomson to insert him back in the rotation, but that’s more of a reflection of the lack of options the Phillies have behind Walker.
Kolby Allard, who threw two scoreless innings in relief, struggled to throw strikes in his last start on Sept. 14 and gave up four runs, Tyler Phillips allowed 23 runs in his last four starts in the big leagues and Seth Johnson gave up nine earned runs in his only start on Sept. 8. Mick Abel has struggled so badly in Lehigh Valley that he’s not even in the discussion as an option.
The Phillies found magic in a bottle early in the year with an incredible month of Spencer Turnbull starts when Walker was injured and even a good three starts from Phillips in July, but the final two months of the season has exposed the Phillies’ lack of organizational starting depth.
Is it an issue to worry about this year? Yes and no. There’s no such thing as fifth starters in the postseason, but Thomson could use someone he can rely on to throw multiple innings in the postseason in a break glass in case of emergency situation. That guy hasn’t emerged yet.
Top prospect Andrew Painter could take down the No. 5 role for most of the year in 2025, though the Phillies will likely need to cycle other guys in and out of the rotation to watch his innings.
No matter what, the starting depth just has to be better moving forward.
But the Phillies have bigger goals in mind this year. The magic number to clinch the NL East remains at four. The magic number to clinch a first-round bye could go down to six if Arizona holds on to defeat the hungover Brewers, who clinched the NL Central on Wednesday night against the Phillies.
