Six years after last playoff appearance, Taijuan Walker ready for chance with Phillies

PHILADELPHIA — Taijuan Walker’s last brush with postseason baseball wasn’t the most enjoyable.

Six years later, the Phillies’ right-hander is eager to get another crack on the mound in the playoffs, against the team he pitched for then. And he’s patiently waited this October to get that chance.

“Any time you get to the postseason, it’s fun,” Walker said Monday. “Obviously as competitors, I know I want to pitch. … But when you have so many talented pitchers and bullpen guys, you kind of have to wait your turn. The best thing that we could do is be on the top step, cheering everyone on.”

Walker could get that chance Friday, as the National League Championship Series shifts to Arizona. He’s among the Phillies likely to get a crack at recording outs in Game 4, along with Cristopher Sanchez. Walker might get the nod to start given his lack of familiarity with relief, but it’s likely both he and Sanchez will be needed to record outs.

It’ll be six years since Walker’s first postseason start, a loss in Game 1 of the NLDS for Arizona at Dodger Stadium in 2017. He lasted just one inning that night, allowing four runs. The Diamondbacks, in their most recent playoff appearance before this year, were swept in three games.

“It was a long time ago, and it wasn’t great,” Walker said. “It wasn’t good. I kind of want to get another chance to redeem myself and get that bad taste out of my mouth.”

That postseason cameo coincided with a down period in Walker’s career. He had been unflinchingly reliable early in his career, making 82 starts over three seasons. But he pitched just three games in 2018 before requiring Tommy John surgery that kept him out for all but one appearance in 2019.

That’s proven to be a blip, Walker making 89 starts in the last three years and topping 150 innings each year. He threw a career-high 172.2 this season, going 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA.

The fact that it’s the Diamondbacks doesn’t add to his excitement. One of the players he’s likely to face, Arizona second baseman Ketel Marte, was acquired with him back in 2016 from Seattle.

While Walker struggled toward the end of the season, he provided a valuable service in gritting out innings in his first season of a four-year, $72 million deal. And while he’s had to wait for a playoff outing, he’s hardly been invisible, one of the first players in the dugout receiving line to help celebrate home runs.

The shift to Arizona portends a change in the series’ rhythm. The first two games in Philadelphia were projected as battles of aces. Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola, giving up two runs in 12 combined innings, lived up to that. Zac Gallen and Merrill Kelly, not so much.

After giving up 15 runs in two games with their reliable starters, the Diamondbacks now have to chop and change. Brandon Pfaadt, a rookie who went 3-9 with a 5.72 ERA, will oppose Ranger Suarez in Game 3. Pfaadt’s two postseason starts have turned into bullpen games, lasting 2.2 innings in Milwaukee and 4.1 in Los Angeles.

Game 4 is still to be announced for the Phillies, but it’s a total toss-up for the Diamondbacks.

The pitching quandary magnifies the importance of piling on runs. The Phillies did that Tuesday after getting away with not doing much of it in Game 1.

“No lead’s safe,” Trea Turner said. “We try to take advantage of our opportunities, whether you’re up early and you don’t quit or you’re trying to come from behind and get that momentum.”

Phillies starters have been the crux of the 7-1 start to the postseason. Starters have averaged better than 5.2 innings per outing with a 1.55 ERA in eight starts.

Walker will be ready to play his part. He understands how rare postseason baseball is – he cites his former Seattle teammate Felix Hernandez, who never pitched in a postseason in his 15-year career, for proof.

“I feel like you can never take the postseason for granted,” Walker said. “Getting here is hard. … You never take it for granted, and the opportunities you have, you need to take full advantage of.”