Mandatory Credit: Mary Holt-USA TODAY Sports
With the news that Mets’ starter Carlos Carrasco will likely be sidelined until Memorial Day at the earliest, the team will need its options behind him to step up and solidify the rotation.
Taijuan Walker, who New York also brought in this winter, just became an even bigger piece to the equation, but took a positive step in doing so on Friday as he fired four innings of one hit ball against the St. Louis Cardinals. The Louisiana native also yielded just one walk and punched out three in the outing.
“The repertoire was nice,” Mets’ manager Luis Rojas said about Walker’s appearance. “Just a lot of good things he showed in today’s outing.”
After a strong 2017 season where Walker pitched in 28 games and logged a 3.49 ERA, 4.04 FIP and struck out 146 batters, he underwent Tommy John surgery and missed nearly all of the 2018 season and appeared in just one game in 2019 due to a capsule sprain in his shoulder.
During the shortened 2020 season, Walker rebounded and pitched to a 2.70 ERA in 11 games (53.1 innings pitched). Now, three seasons removed from Tommy John, Walker is happy to be back in his groove.
“A little bit surprised,” Walker said of his success so far in having come back from the injury. “But kind of what I expected because I’ve been putting a lot of work in and doing everything I need to do to stay healthy.”
With Carrasco out, Walker will likely slot in as the Mets’ No. 3 or No. 4 starter. Jacob deGrom, of course, will anchor the rotation, followed by Marcus Stroman, Walker and likely David Peterson and Joey Lucchesi. Jordan Yamamoto, who has also had a fine spring so far, is also in the mix.
