Pitch count continues to plague Walker
Inability to last deep into games is costly
Here’s how long it’s been since Diamondbacks right-hander Taijuan Walker won a baseball game: The Cardinals were exactly one month away from reporting for training camp.
That’s right: Walker’s last win came on June 21 when the Diamondbacks beat the Rockies 16-5. Since then, he’s taken the ball 10 times, with four losses and six no-decisions. It’s not as if Walker has pitched exceedingly poorly over that stretch; his ERA was 3.43 after the win over Colorado and it will be 3.66 when he starts Saturday against the San Francisco Giants.
Which makes his 0 for 10 all the more mystifying.
But a deeper dig – and a conversa-
tion with Walker – reveals some clues. For instance, Arizona has scored three runs or less in six of those outings. But a bigger factor is Walker’s inability to pitch deep into games. In those 10 starts, he’s pitched more than six innings just twice. His past eight starts in particular are so consistent they’re almost monotonous: The longest outing was six innings, the shortest five.
Manager Torey Lovullo said Walker has a “tremendous mound presence” and called him imposing, a pitcher who “we all feel can throw nine innings at any time.” Then Lovullo added this line: “But he tires. At a certain pitch count, he gets fatigued and we have to get him out of there.”
Walker’s pitch count has been a problem all season. Only once in his 21 starts has he thrown fewer than 85 pitches through five innings. Here are the pitch counts his past five starts: 108 pitches in 5 2/3 innings against St. Louis; 108 pitches in six innings against San Francisco; 109 pitches in five innings against the Cubs; 101 pitches in five innings against Houston; and 93 pitches in 5 1/3 innings against the Mets.
“He’s pitching into the part of the game that I’m happy with,” Lovullo said. “To get specific, maybe he can pitch more efficiently at times, maybe finish guys off a little bit sooner. That’s kind of getting nitpicky in my opinion.”
Ask Walker why he thinks his pitch count has been so high, and he mentions an inability to put hitters away. Statistics back him up. He’s averaging a swinging strike on 8.5 percent of his pitches compared to the league average of 10.4. Last season in Seattle, Walker was right at the league average.
“A lot of foul balls. A lot of 0-2 counts going to 2-2 and 3-2,” Walker said. “I guess not getting quick outs. Sometimes it’s in my control, sometimes it isn’t. Sometimes I make good pitches and there are teams that foul off the pitches and like to battle, which drives my pitch count up.”
Walker also believes he may not be attacking hitters as aggressively as he should when he’s ahead in the count.
“I think that’s where I get in trouble,” he said. “I go to 0-2 and I throw, say, two or three really good pitches they foul off and I go, ‘OK, let me go just a little bit off the plate and then they take it. Then it’s 1-2, I do it again and it’s 2-2 and then they foul some more off.’ I think I have to just keep going after them, keep attacking them and make them put the ball in play.”
Said Lovullo: “If he’s feeling it and he’s saying it I guess I will agree with it but I know he gets after hitters with a strikeout mentality. Maybe it is being a little more effective from a mental standpoint, and maybe it’s being more productive from an execution standpoint.”
Walker said he’s not frustrated with his winless streak because “it’s not about my wins or losses.”
“It’s our job as starters to get deep in games and give our team the best chance to win,” he said. “If we win that day, then I did my job.”