Taijuan Walker Quietly Putting Together Solid First Half for New York Mets

Taijuan Walker quietly putting together solid first half for New York Mets.

For the second time in as many years, New York Mets right-hander Taijuan Walker is enjoying a strong start to his season.

Walker, 29, helped secure a .500 road trip for New York on Sunday against the Los Angeles Angels, as he tossed six innings of one run ball while striking out 10 batters.

Solid Sunday night for @tai_walker. 💪 pic.twitter.com/2fX8yKMyVg

— New York Mets (@Mets) June 13, 2022

After a rough first inning, in which Walker surrendered a run on four hits, he buckled down to allow just two more hits over his final five frames.

During the Mets' long 10-game road trip on the west coast that has finally concluded, Walker pitched three times, and overall, pitched well despite being handed two losses before his win on Sunday.

The California native admitted that while it’s uncommon for a pitcher to start three games on a road trip, he was up to the task.

“I feel like that’s rare,” Walker said after the game Sunday. “But I wanted it. I wanted the task. I wanted to face the three best teams and go out there and show what I could do.”

Taijuan Walker on starting 3 times in the same road trip:

"I wanted it. I wanted the task. I wanted to face the 3 best teams and go out there and show what I can do." pic.twitter.com/MgGBHWzvSH

— SNY (@SNYtv) June 13, 2022

In 17 2/3 innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and Angels, Walker scattered seven runs, (four of which came in one game), which is good for a 3.57 ERA over these three contests.

On the season, Walker flaunts a respectable 3.08 ERA in 52 2/3 innings pitched across 10 starts. He has also been good for 1.0 fWAR.

Since Max Scherzer went down with an oblique injury on May 19, the Mets have received an alarming 5.26 ERA from their starting rotation.

In his last seven starts, which predates the Scherzer injury by one week, Walker has a strong 2.59 ERA.

Is it sustainable? Well, we’ve seen this with Walker before. In his first half of 2021, a Jekyll and Hyde type year, Walker had a robust 2.66 ERA and punched himself a ticket to the All-Star Game in Colorado.

His second half though was disastrous as he had a dreadful 7.13 ERA in 13 starts with 20 home runs allowed.

Walker threw 159 innings in 2021, his highest total since 2017, before undergoing Tommy John surgery the following year. He has also allowed a mere three homers in 2022, which was his biggest weakness in a rough second half last season, where it was evident that the righty had hit a wall. 

Although he has shown early signs of putting together a bounce-back campaign, Walker’s Baseball Savant page doesn’t paint the prettiest of pictures:

The Mets ultimately need Chris Bassitt, who has a 7.62 ERA in his last seven starts, and has surrendered 24 runs over his last 26 innings to anchor this rotation in the short term.

If Walker can go out there every fifth day and do his job at the moment, however, it will be a huge contribution to the Mets until Scherzer and Jacob deGrom return.

Read More:

- Mets Still Taking Things Slow With Jacob deGrom

- Mets Could Target These High-Leverage Relievers

- Sources: Mets' Max Scherzer Throwing Bullpens; What it Means

Follow Rob Piersall on Twitter (@RTPiersall), be sure to bookmark Inside The Mets and check back daily for news, analysis and more.