Walker’s problems continue
The Mets have a Taijuan Walker problem.
Their No. 2 starter has deeply struggled to start the second half of the regular season. Walker gave up five earned runs on six hits, including two home runs across five innings, in the Mets’ 6-3 loss to the Braves on Thursday afternoon. Though he looked improved to start his 19th outing of the year, carrying a no-hitter into the fourth inning and using his four-seam fastball to register strikeouts, the good groove soon melted and gave way to a handful of Atlanta runs.
Walker has allowed 16 earned runs in his last nine innings pitched since the All-Star break. He’s allowed five home runs in his last two starts. In his first All-Star Game, Walker gave up a bomb to his former Seattle catcher, Mike Zunino, in his one-inning appearance. It’s possible Walker is fatigued, with nearly 100 innings pitched this season.
When asked whether fatigue is playing a role in his lopsided start to the second half, Walker said he’s done a “good job” with his arm care, but largely sidestepped any suggestion of feeling lethargic. Walker said he felt better on Thursday, and more like his first-half self.
He boiled his struggles down to two factors: the long ball hurting him and his pitch selection. He said hitters can tell when he has not made up his mind on a pitch — when he’s just throwing something to throw it.
“Just not trusting myself,” Walker said. “When you do that and when you throw a pitch without conviction, there’s nothing behind it.”
He posted a 7-3 record and 2.50 ERA through his first 16 starts in the first half of the season, which led to his All-Star selection. The Mets were the only team this past offseason to make the free agent Walker an offer. He accepted their deal while spring training was already underway, signing a two-year, $20 million contract and soon establishing himself as a gem in the rotation.
But the workload has appeared to catch up to him. Walker underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 and has never thrown more than 169 innings in a season. Since returning from TJS in 2019 (but only recording one inning in his lone start for the Diamondbacks that year),
Walker bounced back for a terrific 2020 between the Mariners and Blue Jays. Though he stayed healthy last year, he’s coming off a season in which he pitched just 53 innings in the pandemic-shortened schedule.
The 99.1 innings Walker has recorded so far in 2021 are the most he’s pitched in four years — since his first season for Arizona in 2017 and one year before his Tommy John.
“I didn’t do my job today,”
Walker said. “We scored some runs and I didn’t do my job of giving the team a chance to win.”
The Mets (54-47) are in a unique spot with Walker, in that the club is adding a starter in Carlos Carrasco tonight and perhaps acquiring another rotation arm ahead of the trade deadline. If it is fatigue that’s wearing down Walker’s arsenal, the Mets may soon be able to allow him some rest on the injured list. Carrasco’s
return alone won’t give Walker that opportunity, as the veteran right-hander will give the team a five-man rotation for the first time in five weeks.
But if the front office strikes a deal for a starting pitcher, the Mets will have to boot someone from the rotation anyway. That someone could be Walker, so that he’s rested and ready for the pennant race in September, and back in his groove for a potential postseason run in October.