Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Taijuan Walker left Tuesday’s start against the Tampa Bay Rays with a foot injury. It is unclear when he’ll return to the mound.
Continue for updates.
Walker Injury Details Revealed
Tuesday, June 14
Walker suffered an injury to the tendon in the arch of his foot, according to Greg Johns of MLB.com, who clarified that it wasn’t a Achilles injury, as originally announced by the Mariners.
The team “hopes” he can make his next start, per Johns.
Walker Comments on Injury
Tuesday, June 14
“It’s not as bad as I thought it was,” said Walker after the game, via Bob Dutton of the Tacoma News Tribune. “It’s just a little tendinitis.”
Mariners Need Walker to Stabilize Rotation
Buster Olney of ESPN The Magazine noted Walker’s “velocity has dipped to 91-92 [mph] in the fourth inning” after he allowed a home run to Steve Pearce and a triple to Corey Dickerson.
Coming into Tuesday’s start, Walker had 12 appearances with a 3.48 ERA, 1.14 WHIP and 63 strikeouts in 67.1 innings pitched. There was steady improvement from his totals in 2015, when he posted a 4.56 ERA and a 1.20 WHIP in 29 starts.
Despite the better numbers, he has still struggled giving up the long ball. He allowed 25 home runs last year and 12 in his first 67.1 innings this season. Walker also gave up two more homers (Dickerson and Pearce) before exiting the game on Tuesday.
Walker was coming off his best start of the 2016 campaign, which makes the timing of this setback all the more disappointing from Seattle’s perspective. He pitched eight shutout innings and allowed a mere three hits against the Cleveland Indians on Wednesday and also struck out 11 batters.
The 23-year-old flashed his overall potential during the dominant start, but Seattle will now have to make do without Walker and Felix Hernandez for the time being. The Mariners recently placed King Felix on the disabled list with a calf injury.
That puts more pressure on Wade Miley and Hisashi Iwakuma to anchor the rotation for Seattle. Iwakuma is a veteran who posted an ERA of 3.54 or lower in each of last four seasons, while Miley is a southpaw who has struggled this season with a 5.28 ERA this season in 13 starts.
Seattle is already chasing the Texas Rangers in the American League West, and it won’t get any easier if Walker misses significant time.
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