Interview: Taijuan Walker Headed For Career Season

By Scott Engel, The Game Day

During the first half of the season, the primary narrative that surrounded the Mets pitching staff was the hope that the rest of the starters could maintain effectiveness and respectability until the two big aces returned.

But while most talked about just waiting for the returns of Max Scherzer and Jacob deGrom, Taijuan Walker operated at a very high level, showing he was more than just a guy who was holding things down until the outlook improved.

Taijuan Walker Talks About The Factors Behind His First-Half Success

Once A Top Prospect, Now A Complete Pitcher

Walker has been a lesser-heralded hero of sorts for the Mets in the first half of the season, and he is one of the significant reasons why the team was able to maintain its lead and favorable odds to win the National League East. Walker has been one of the team’s top starters, maintaining the best ERA and WHIP on the starting staff outside of Scherzer. And he indicated that no one should be surprised that he and the rest of the Mets starters were able to play a big part in keeping the team atop the division.

“We’re in the big leagues for a reason,” Walker told us recently in an exclusive interview at Citi Field. “We’re all really good pitchers, too. Obviously, it’s not good that we lost Jake and Max, but we’re all capable starters who can go out there and get outs, and go deep into games, and that’s been what we’ve been doing.”

While the Mets’ two marquee pitchers were working their way back towards returning, Walker was the team’s most dependable starter during the first half of the season. Walker has performed at an ace level for the Mets this season, winning seven of his first nine decisions with a 2.86 ERA and 1.14 WHIP. He may be the quietest standout in a Mets uniform so far this season.

Earlier in his career, high expectations followed Walker as a first-round draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 2010. But as he approaches his 30th birthday, Walker appears to be on his way to a career season, because he has truly evolved into a savvy starter. He was billed as a strikeout artist early in his career, but now he is a much more complete pitcher.

“I just had two pitches,” Walker said about himself at the beginning of his MLB career. Now I have four or five pitches and I mix them all up. I just try to get quick outs.”

According to Baseball Savant, Walker used his four-seam fastball 63.5 percent of the time and his cutter 20.6 percent in 2013, his first season in the Majors. Now he uses the four-seamer 30.2 percent of the time, his split-finger 28.7 percent, and the slider 17.8 percent while also mixing in sinkers, curveballs, and cutters.

Last year, Walker utilized his splitter 14.2 percent of the time, but he upped the usage this season and has been getting impressive results. The split-finger has been his best pitch, as opponents have hit .157 against it.

“It has been more effective,” Walker said. “I’ve been getting swings and misses and ground balls with it. I changed the grip on it, so I’m getting more depth on it. It’s been my best pitch this year, so I am just using it as a weapon for ground balls, swings, and misses or strikeouts when I need it.”

Walker has been getting 32.7 inches of drop on his splitter, as compared to 27.7 last season. His 20.8 PutAway percentage on the split-finger has been his best of any pitch, according to Baseball Savant.

Surrounded By Positive Influences

Another overlooked major contributor to the Mets’ success while they have waited for Scherzer and deGrom to return has been pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Walker has done a lot to develop himself into more of a front-line type of starter since he arrived in New York last season. Yet he also credits Hefner for being a prime go-to source of information and advice. Hefner’s approach works well, as he does not hover over his pitchers, but waits patiently for when his expertise is needed.

“He has helped me with a lot of things,” Walker said. “For the most part he lets you go out and do what you have to do, do it your way, but he’s always there when you need tweaking on a certain pitch or mechanically. He’s always sitting there ready with information for you. He really just waits until you come to him. I’ve been working on my slider and he’s just been hammering it, pulling up a lot of video from other guys that he’s had or that he’s seen. He’s been real resourceful.”

As fans have witnessed on broadcasts, the Mets starters are a tight-knit group, and they consult with each other frequently. Sharing insights with the likes of Scherzer, deGrom, Chris Bassitt, and other fellow starters have also contributed to Walker’s success. He said that the starting pitchers are always heavily involved with helping each other throughout games, examining opponents in high detail.

“I think it makes everyone a better pitcher,” Walker said. “We get to talk about the situations and each hitter. We all have different stuff, but you can always set it up the same way and just kind of look at their swings. We just kind of dissect each hitter, that’s what we do in the dugout. We have the iPad, so we’re always constantly looking at video. We’re talking with each other about the outing, or how we’re going to set a guy up, how to approach a team.”

The supporting cast around Walker has been instrumental in his 2022 success. That includes catchers James McCann and Tomas Nido. Yes, there continues to be much buzz surrounding Francisco Alvarez, and when his potent bat will arrive in Flushing. But Walker pointed out that the current Mets catchers have done a very satisfactory job in terms of handling the pitchers. McCann and Nido’s value to the team is appreciated by those who work closest with them. A quality catcher must provide more than just offense. The job also demands high attention to detail when working behind the plate.

“They really do their research and study each hitter. They know each one of their pitchers and whoever’s throwing the ball, and they come up with a good plan for us. It makes it easier to trust whatever sign they put down. It helps us get in a rhythm,” Walker said.

Walker has been earning results that certainly deserve even more recognition. Yet he does feel the rewards of more enthusiasm and excitement from Mets fans when he is on the mound. He has played a big part in the team’s success in the first half of the season and can sense the appreciation of the fans when he takes his turns in the rotation.

“The fans, they really care, they’re real passionate,” Walker said. “When you go out there and you win ballgames, the fans show up, the fans are behind you. They just want to win, just as much as we do. The more the stadium is filled up, it helps us go out there and play better.”

Follow Scott on Twitter at @scotteTheKing.