Taijuan Walker looks far from ready in Phillies loss to Orioles

The Baltimore Orioles beat the brakes off your Fightin Phils on Wednesday in Sarastota, FL, 13-4. And there’s more to be concerned about than just the meaningless spring score.

Let’s jump right into the good, the bad, and the ugly from the game:

The Good

– Brandon Marsh went two for four with a triple. If he’s still feeling any ill effects from the arthroscopic surgery performed on his knee in early February, it sure didn’t show on the basepaths.

– Jordan Luplow hit a pair of singles and drew a walk in his three plate appearances. Luplow was having a great spring with the Braves before Atlanta released him, and hasn’t slowed down since joining the Phillies on a minor league deal. His combined spring stats: .353/.463/.735 (1.198 OPS) with four home runs in 40 plate appearances.

The 30-year-old outfielder isn’t in the mix for a job on the Phils’ active roster, but he could get called up from AAA for spot duty here and there. A team can never have too much depth.

Luplow has a career .212/.314/.423 slash line in 361 major league games across seven seasons. He played first base today, a defensive position he has appeared at just 21 times in the majors.

The Bad

– Taijuan Walker got lit up by the Orioles. He was charged with five runs in the first inning and was only able to get two outs before he was replaced on the mound. Walker returned in the second inning (spring rules are loose), and promptly served up a double and a home run to the next two batters he faced.

His final line: 2.2 IP, 5 H, 7 R, 7 ER, 3 BB, 1 K, 3 HR.

Walker missed time early in camp due to personal issues, then ramped up slowly because of knee soreness. This game was his second appearance of the spring, and his velocity just isn’t there yet: Walker typically averages about 93-94 mph on his fastball, but he averaged 89 mph in his first appearance this spring and sat between 88 and 92 mph in this one.

“It’s getting there, just a lot slower than I would like,” said Walker about his velocity. “But everything’s going up. I feel like each start, it’s crept up. I don’t know. I’ve been putting a lot of work in, been working really, really hard. It’s just getting there.”

Walker’s struggles shouldn’t make you panic. But with Opening Day just a week away, it’s entirely reasonable to be concerned about how he will perform early in the season.

Walker was solid for the Phillies in 2023 but did not pitch well in the second half of the year. After going 10-3 with a 4.02 ERA before the break, he went 5-3 with a 4.83 ERA the rest of the way. Those splits were consistent with a pattern that has persisted throughout Walker’s eleven seasons in the majors: he has a 3.58 career first half ERA and a 4.62 career second half ERA.

The Ugly

– I’m ready to say it out loud: It’s been a disappointing spring for the Phillies on the field. They haven’t shown much to alleviate the most serious concerns we had about them when pitchers and catchers showed up in February. Consider:

• The Phillies’ biggest question mark entering the spring was Johan Rojas’ ability to improve at the plate. Despite some happy talk from manager Rob Thomson and hitting coach Kevin Long about Rojas’ approach, the young defensive phenom is batting .156 with a .441 OPS. He has walked just once in 46 plate appearances.
• Another big concern entering the spring was the lineup’s ability to cut down on strikeouts and make more consistent contact. But through Wednesday’s game, the Phils led all 30 MLB teams in strikeouts with 288. That’s 26 more strikeouts than the Brewers (the team with the second-most Ks), 65 more strikeouts than the Braves, and 122 more strikeouts than the Padres (the team with the fewest Ks). The Fightins also rank last in the majors in team batting average, hitting .231.
• We can’t really assess Taijuan Walker because he’s behind schedule, but after the Phils didn’t trust him to touch the ball in the 2023 postseason, it would have been great to see him have some good spring results.
• At least they’re healthy? Well, not quite. Walker’s not there yet, as discussed. And Bryce Harper is still out with back stiffness. Quotes from Harper and Thomson suggest they’re just being cautious as Opening Day approaches. But as anyone with back issues will tell you, these things can be tricky.

It hasn’t been all bad. Ranger Suarez and Zack Wheeler, among others, are having excellent springs. It’s unclear how seriously a lineup full of veteran stars takes these exhibition games, so all stats need to be viewed suspiciously. And, of course, everything changes when the regular season starts and we toss the spring numbers out the window.

But if you’re a worrier… The spring results are all we have right now, and they’re not helping.

The Phillies will play the Rays in Clearwater on Thursday at 1:05 p.m.