Taijuan Walker Has Historically Bad Outing in Embarrassing Phillies Loss

The Philadelphia Phillies were embarrassed on Wednesday as Taijuan Walker turned in yet another brutal performance.

Jun 21, 2024; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) looks on after allowing three runs against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the third inning at Citizens Bank Park / Kyle Ross-USA TODAY Sports

Coming into Wednesday's game, it felt like the Philadelphia Phillies were starting to turn the corner after their brutal stretch following the All-Star break has seen them perform as one of the worst teams in the league.

With four victories in a row entering this contest, the Phillies had shown the ability to win in different ways during these contests, putting up crooked numbers offensively against the Kansas City Royals and using situational hitting and strong pitching to take two from the Houston Astros.

But whatever good will was built up during this small sample size quickly vanished.

Philadelphia was completely embarrassed, losing the game 10-0.

Entering the eighth inning, they were being no-hit by Astros rookie starter Spencer Arrighetti who entered Wednesday with a 4.94 ERA and an 8.6 hits per nine inning ratio.

Performing this way at the plate was unacceptable from a team with this many good hitters throughout their lineup, especially when they had a chance to extend their winning streak and sweep a team for the first time since mid-July.

But as poor as the Phillies' performed on offense, the story is how historically bad Taijuan Walker was in this game.

The struggling right-hander exited after the sixth inning having given up six earned runs on 13 hits without striking out a single batter.

Matt Gelb of The Athletic highlighted just how awful this outing was.

Taijuan Walker allowed 13 hits and did not record a strikeout in six innings.

It's the most hits a Phillies pitcher has allowed since Aaron Harang in 2015. It's the first time a Phillies starter went 6 IP without a strikeout since Ben Lively in 2017.

— Matt Gelb (@MattGelb) August 28, 2024

Following Walker's outing against the Royals on Aug. 23 where he gave up six earned runs in just three innings of work, that was seen as the last straw for his tenure in Philadelphia considering just how bad he's been all season long.

It was written here at Philadelphia Phillies On SI that the organization needed to own up to their mistake and admit the veteran could no longer be part of this rotation.

Instead, he was given one more chance to prove himself against Houston, something that ended in complete disaster.

So again, this should be the last time Walker appears in a Phillies jersey.

Despite the 15 wins he produced in 2023, his 4.38 ERA, 1.309 WHIP, 7.2 K/9 ratio, and 4.53 FIP that suggested his ERA could be even higher, was a clear sign he was declining.

Philadelphia clearly didn't trust him in the playoffs, opting not to throw him a single time, yet they are still holding onto some nonsensical idea that he can turn things around during this campaign.

But this has to be final outing for Walker this season. There's just no way Rob Thomson can keep penciling him in every five days and expect this team to win when the Phillies have lost their last nine games when he's on the mound.

So as the Phillies enter their massive four-game slate against the Atlanta Braves, they are coming off an embarrassing loss that once again calls into question if this group is truly good enough to compete.