Philadelphia Phillies Make Decision with Struggling Starting Pitcher

After another struggle on Saturday, the Philadelphia Phillies are going to skip the next start of Taijuan Walker.
Philadelphia Phillies Make Decision with Struggling Starting Pitcher
Philadelphia Phillies Make Decision with Struggling Starting Pitcher /
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The Philadelphia Phillies were beaten by the Minnesota Twins on Saturday by a score of 8-1. 

In the loss, Taijuan Walker struggled, allowing three runs while walking six over 5.0 innings. He's now 13-5 on the year and has posted a 4.03 ERA.

While his overall numbers look good, his recent struggles are leading to him having his next start skipped.

The following update comes from the Rotowire fantasy baseball portal:

Walker (13-5) took the loss Saturday, allowing three runs on three hits and six walks over five innings against the Twins. He struck out two. Phillies manager Rob Thomson said he would skip Walker's next scheduled start to give him some extra rest, the Associated Press reports.

ANALYSIS
Walker has given up four or more runs in three of his last six starts with a 18:14 K:BB ratio in 30.1 innings. "Control is off, command is off, velocity is down," Thomson said. "So I think it's time to just give him a little breather."

The 31-year-old Walker is in his first year in Philly after signing a four-year deal this offseason.

He's been in the big leagues for 11 years in total with the Mariners, Diamondbacks, Blue Jays, Mets and Phillies.

Formerly one of the top prospects in all of baseball, he's 67-54 lifetime with a 3.90 ERA.

The Phillies are 65-53 overall and currently own the top wild card spot in the National League.

They'll take on the Twins again on Sunday afternoon. First pitch from Philadelphia is set for 1:35 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.