Mets' Taijuan Walker Produces Strong Outing In Return From IL

Mets' Taijuan Walker looked strong in his first outing back from the IL on Saturday.

Although the Mets' offense struggled, leaving 13 men on-base, and the bullpen coughed up the lead in a flat 4-1 loss to the Phillies, starting pitcher Taijuan Walker's performance was a shining bright spot for New York on Saturday night.

In Walker's return from the 10-day injured list, the righty hurled five shutout innings on 73 pitches, allowing just two hits, while striking out one and walking two. His fastball velocity sat between 94-96 mph, as he stifled one of baseball's best lineups.

Walker threw two shutout innings against the Phillies in his season-debut on April 11, but exited the outing with right shoulder bursitis. This saw the 29-year-old land on the shelf for a total of 19 days. 

“I felt really good, just the shoulder and getting through five innings finally, and feeling good with it,” Walker told reporters. “My shoulder feels great, my knee feels great. I’m looking forward to getting back to my routine and pitching again in five days.”

In addition to his shoulder issue, Walker was limited in spring training after undergoing knee surgery in January. Walker dealt with knee soreness in his final Grapefruit League outing, which prevented the righty from fully stretching out on the mound. 

“I think one more outing where I’m limited as far as pitch-count, but I feel like I’ll be able to go six to seven innings and keep up with our starters right now,” Walker said. “Everyone is going deep into games and that’s kind of the goal for me right now, to go out there and to try to get deep into games.”

And It's safe to say that manager Buck Showalter is glad to see Walker back out there as well.

“It was good to see him get back in the fight with us,” Showalter said. “It’s been tough on him, being away. It looks like hopefully he’s put himself in a position to contribute.

“He had good life on his fastball, had all of his pitches, and he felt good physically. It was a tough decision in the fifth inning, but I wanted him to get the fifth if I could. … He was close to where we wanted to take him, that’s why I had a pitcher ready in case there was an issue there, but he was able to finish the fifth.”

Walker's next scheduled start will likely come at Citizens Bank Park next weekend. That means his first three outings of the season will be against the Phillies.

Read More:

- Mets Activate Taijuan Walker From IL

- Tylor Megill, Mets' Bullpen Throw Combined No-Hitter In Win Over Phillies

- Why Robinson Canó's Roster Spot With Mets Could Be Safe - For Now

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