Photo by Ed Delany of MMO
Taijuan Walker took a huge step in the right direction with his performance against the Washington Nationals on Thursday night. The pitcher, who had a later start to spring training through injury, has a chance to be in the opening week rotation.
Dee Strange-Gordon opened the game with a leadoff single to right field. After successfully stealing second base, the former Seattle Mariner got picked off by Walker trying to take third base. The right-handed pitcher got Juan Soto to ground out and Nelson Cruz to strike out swinging to cap off a scoreless top of the first.
Walker struck out Lane Thomas for the first out of the second inning. Nationals outfielder Andrew Stevenson would then hit a line-drive double to center field but was left stranded following consecutive groundouts Maikel Franco and Alcides Escobar.
With two outs in the top of the third, Strange-Gordon got his second hit against Walker, this time with a single to left field. The pitcher closed out the frame by getting Soto to fly out to left field.
The 29-year-old starter went back out for the fourth inning, looking to finish off his outing on a strong note. Walker got Cruz to fly out to center field and Thomas to ground out to third base to record the first two outs of the frame.
That would be all for the starter, as Mets manager Buck Showalter came out of the dugout to take his starter out. Walker had a very strong outing against the NL East foe, pitching 3 2/3 innings of scoreless ball with three hits and two strikeouts. He was able to reach 54 pitches after throwing 20 in his first spring start on March 26.
For Walker, it is a race against time with Opening Day less than a week away. The starting pitcher, who had knee surgery during the offseason, has begun to ramp up his activity in the last few weeks. Thursday’s start against the Nationals marks his longest of spring training, providing some hope that he may be ready when the season begins next week.
With the news that Jacob deGrom may miss some time with shoulder tightness, everyone in the Mets rotation could move up a spot. Considering the way Walker pitched in the first half of the 2021 season, his availability is critical to the early season success for the team from a pitching perspective.
Walker showed a lot of promising signs in his first season in New York, pitching to a 4.47 ERA in 29 starts last season. Those stats don’t paint the whole picture, as his numbers in the first half compared to the second were showed drastic differences.
In 17 first-half starts, Walker had a record of 7-3 with a 2.66 ERA, earning a spot on the All-Star team for the first time in his career. The pitcher struggled in the second half, pitching to an 0-8 record with a 7.13 ERA in 13 starts. Walker will be looking to rebound in 2022 after a shaky end to last season.
