Taijuan Walker
32-Year-Old
2024 Stats
W-L
3-6
ERA
6.29
WHIP
1.63
K
55
SV
0
Rest-of-Season Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Walker signed a four-year, $72 million deal with the Phillies prior to last season, and while his passable 4.38 ERA across 31 starts may have helped the team eat enough innings to get into the playoffs, the fact that he wasn't trusted to throw a single postseason inning is telling. Walker was seemingly lucky to finish with his respectable ERA, as both his xFIP (4.83) and SIERA (4.97) indicated things could have been much worse. Pitchers who are worse than league average in both strikeout rate (18.8%) and walk rate (9.7%) don't tend to be very imposing unless they're elite at keeping the ball on the ground, and while Walker has been above-average in that area for most of his career, he's far from an outlier. Walker should get the ball every fifth day for a contender again in 2024, which has fantasy value in deeper leagues, but given that his numbers trended in the wrong direction as 2023 progressed, another step back seems more likely than another step forward. Read Past Outlooks
Set to start Thursday
Walker will draw the start for the Phillies' series opener against the Mets on Thursday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
Walker was relegated to the bullpen following his last start against the Astros on Aug. 28, when he allowed six runs on 13 hits and one walk over six innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) across his first two relief outings, but after Walker tossed three scoreless innings against the Mets on Saturday, manager Rob Thompson has decided to give the 32-year-old right-hander another look as the club's No. 5 starter. Overall, Walker holds a 6.29 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 55:31 K:BB across 78.2 innings this season.
Walker was relegated to the bullpen following his last start against the Astros on Aug. 28, when he allowed six runs on 13 hits and one walk over six innings. He allowed five runs (four earned) across his first two relief outings, but after Walker tossed three scoreless innings against the Mets on Saturday, manager Rob Thompson has decided to give the 32-year-old right-hander another look as the club's No. 5 starter. Overall, Walker holds a 6.29 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and 55:31 K:BB across 78.2 innings this season.
Pitching Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
Minor League Game Log
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Pitching Appearances Breakdown
Average Pitch Count
77
Last 10 Games
71
Last 5 Games
57
How many pitches does Taijuan Walker generally throw?
1-10
11-20
21-30
31-40
41-50
51-60
61-70
71-80
81-90
91-100
101-110
111-120
121+
What part of the game does Taijuan Walker generally pitch?
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
6th
7th
8th
9th
Extra
% Games Reaching Innings Threshold
% Games By Number of Innings Pitched
Left/Right Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-6%
BAA vs LHP
2024
-10%
BAA vs LHP
BAA | K | BB | H | HR | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022vs Left | .245 | 158 | 80 | 177 | 28 | |||
Since 2022vs Right | .260 | 167 | 67 | 218 | 27 | |||
2024vs Left | .293 | 26 | 17 | 46 | 9 | |||
2024vs Right | .325 | 29 | 14 | 51 | 11 | |||
2023vs Left | .226 | 75 | 40 | 74 | 12 | |||
2023vs Right | .252 | 63 | 31 | 81 | 8 | |||
2022vs Left | .242 | 57 | 23 | 57 | 7 | |||
2022vs Right | .239 | 75 | 22 | 86 | 8 | |||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Home/Away Pitching Splits
Since 2022
-16%
ERA at Home
2024
-18%
ERA at Home
ERA | WHIP | IP | K/9 | BB/9 | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Since 2022Home | 4.01 | 1.28 | 206.1 | 7.5 | 3.5 | ||||
Since 2022Away | 4.80 | 1.37 | 202.1 | 6.8 | 3.0 | ||||
2024Home | 5.79 | 1.54 | 46.2 | 6.8 | 4.1 | ||||
2024Away | 7.03 | 1.75 | 32.0 | 5.6 | 2.8 | ||||
2023Home | 3.55 | 1.23 | 88.2 | 7.8 | 4.0 | ||||
2023Away | 5.25 | 1.39 | 84.0 | 6.5 | 3.4 | ||||
2022Home | 3.42 | 1.17 | 71.0 | 7.7 | 2.5 | ||||
2022Away | 3.54 | 1.22 | 86.1 | 7.4 | 2.6 | ||||
More Splits→ | View More Split Stats |
Stat Review
How does Taijuan Walker compare to other starting pitchers?
This section compares his stats with all starting pitcher seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 120 innings)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
* Exit Velocity, Barrels/BBE %, Balls Hit 95+ MPH %, and Spin Rate are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 120 IP). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
K/BB
1.77K/9
6.3BB/9
3.5HR/9
2.3Fastball
91.2 mphERA
6.29WHIP
1.63BABIP
.316GB/FB
1.13Left On Base
71.0%Exit Velocity
84.9 mphBarrels/BBE
8.0%Spin Rate
1954 rpmBalls Hit 95+ MPH
32.3%Swinging Strike
6.9%Advanced Pitching Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Stats Vs Today's Lineup
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
Walker struggled during the second half of 2021 and finished with a 4.47 ERA, but he didn't fade as much down the stretch last season and overall produced a 3.49 ERA and 1.19 WHIP across 157.1 innings. The right-hander's strikeout rate dropped two percentage points to 20.3 percent, but he also cut his walk rate to 6.9 percent, which is his best figure since 2016. The advanced stats indicate Walker could be due for some regression (3.94 xERA, 4.05 SIERA, 3.89 xFIP), and he won't be helped much by the defense after joining Philadelphia on a four-year, $72 million deal. He'll be stable in the middle of the rotation for the reigning NL Champions and should be a solid mixed-league option for fantasy managers in 2023, though his strikeout numbers certainly limit his upside.
More Fantasy News
Relegated to bullpen
Manager Rob Thomson said Thursday that Walker will work out of the bullpen going forward, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Rotation spot in jeopardy
Phillies manager Rob Thomson was noncommittal about Walker's spot in the rotation following the right-hander's loss to the Astros on Wednesday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Tagged for 13 hits, six runs
Walker (3-6) took the loss Wednesday against the Astros, allowing six earned runs on 13 hits and one walk in six innings. He did not record a strikeout.
ANALYSIS
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Early exit in Friday's loss
Walker (3-5) took the loss Friday as the Phillies fell 7-4 to the Royals, coughing up six runs on eight hits and a walk over three innings. He struck out two.
ANALYSIS
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Labors through 4.2 innings
Walker did not factor into the decision in Sunday's loss to the Nationals, allowing three earned runs on four hits and three walks in 4.2 innings. He struck out three.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Likely to remain in relief
Phillies manager Rob Thomson said Wednesday that Walker isn't likely to start Sunday against the Marlins since the skipper liked how the right-hander looked as a reliever, reports Todd Zolecki of MLB.com.
ANALYSIS
The 32-year-old appeared to be an obvious candidate for a spot start this weekend after Philadelphia demoted Tyler Phillips to the minors, but it appears Walker will be sticking in the bullpen for now. The right-hander surrendered two runs on four hits with no walks or strikeouts over three innings during his lone relief appearance since being bumped from the rotation. Walker could still factor into Sunday's pitching plans, but it will likely only be in a relief capacity.
The 32-year-old appeared to be an obvious candidate for a spot start this weekend after Philadelphia demoted Tyler Phillips to the minors, but it appears Walker will be sticking in the bullpen for now. The right-hander surrendered two runs on four hits with no walks or strikeouts over three innings during his lone relief appearance since being bumped from the rotation. Walker could still factor into Sunday's pitching plans, but it will likely only be in a relief capacity.