Taijuan Walker’s 2nd half takes ugly turn, Mets fall apart in ugly loss to Red Sox
BOSTON — We’ve seen this movie before.
Taijuan Walker’s dismal second half took an even uglier turn on Wednesday night in the Mets’ blowout 12-5 loss to the Red Sox at Fenway Park. Walker, who has pitched like he’s been gassed since July, allowed six earned runs to Boston before his night ended after just two innings.
The Mets (73-79) were swept by the Red Sox (88-65) in the two-game series. They’ve lost seven of their last eight games and remain more than seven games behind the Braves with 10 games to play. They could officially be eliminated from playoff contention as soon as this weekend in Milwaukee.
The harsh reality is beginning to settle in even for the club’s optimistic skipper.
“We’re in a tough spot right now,” Luis Rojas said. “We didn’t play a good game tonight.”
Wednesday was Walker’s second-shortest outing of the year but it looked awfully similar to the eruption of runs he allowed to the Pirates on July 18, in which he retired just one batter before being pulled from his start. That hot July afternoon was exactly when Walker’s All-Star season started going south.
Walker is 0-8 with a 7.74 ERA since the All-Star break, beginning with his meltdown in Pittsburgh on July 18. Compare that to his 7-3 record with a 2.66 ERA in the first half and it’s been all downhill.
“I gotta attribute it to some inconsistency in that fastball carry at the top of the zone,” Rojas said of Walker’s second-half struggles. “The grind, when you put a good sequence of at-bats in a lineup, that can waste a pitcher. I think that’s what happened tonight.”
Kyle Schwarber cranked a solo home run in the first inning, and then another three-run shot in the second inning to cap Walker’s hopeless night. Schwarber has nine home runs in his last 10 games against the Mets, including four multi-home run games. Since 2015, Schwarber has crushed five home runs off Walker.
The right-hander has permitted 20 home runs in 57 innings in the second half, as opposed to six home runs allowed in 94.2 innings before the All-Star break. Walker’s 151.1 innings pitched across 28 starts are the most innings he’s logged since 2017, when he hurled 157.1 innings for the Diamondbacks. He underwent Tommy John surgery in April 2018 and enjoyed a productive comeback season in 2020 — posting a 2.77 ERA in 11 starts for the Mariners and Blue Jays.
Though, however fruitful Walker’s 2020 season turned out, the Amazin’s were the only team to offer him a contract in free agency last offseason.
In a bigger picture scope, the Mets signed Walker to a two-year, $20 million contract and he will be a part of their rotation in 2022. It’s becoming abundantly clear the 29-year-old starter has been overwhelmed by his significant uptick in workload for quite some time. It would be in the Mets’ best interest to shut him down for the rest of the year. If so, he would only end up missing his final two starts of the Mets lost season.
“It could be,” Rojas said of whether Walker is fatigued. “It’s been hard for us to really believe that when we see his stuff is playing the same way. And there’s been differences, but that’s happened to every pitcher this year. I don’t want to single out Walker because of his innings, but we’re seeing things that it could be [fatigue].”
Rojas added the Mets are not considering shutting Walker down for the season, though they may give him an extra day between starts the next time he goes out. Still, Walker’s innings-workload remains a question mark when planning for next season’s rotation.
