Taijuan

Walker

Suárez has been playing catch as he begins to ramp back up from his back injury, but he has yet to work up to bullpens, so his timeline is unclear at this time. Taijuan Walker will replace him in the rotation but should not be on fantasy radars.

Luzardo and Aaron Nola will follow ace Zack Wheeler to close out Philadelphia’s season-opening series against the Nationals before Cristopher Sánchez draws an extremely favorable home matchup against the Rockies. Taijuan Walker will be skipped the first time through the rotation, but could wind up pitching in long relief, if needed. This group has a chance to be one of the best starting rotations in baseball and that’s before the addition of top pitching prospect Andrew Painter, who is expected to be ready to roll around midseason. Look out.

Walker was showing some reason for a little optimism at the beginning of the spring, but his last two outings have really taken that away. His velocity has dropped back down a bit, and his control wasn’t any good while walking three today. The Phillies will have him serve as their fifth starter while Ranger Suárez is sidelined, but he’ll be on a short leash.

Suárez played catch a couple times this weekend, but there remains no exact timetable for his return, so a season-opening trip to the injured list isn’t exactly surprising. With the 29-year-old left-hander sidelined, Taijuan Walker is set to be the Phillies’ fifth starter and he’ll start the sixth game of the season.

The Phillies haven’t asked for anything more than two innings at a time from Ross this spring, suggesting he’ll remain in middle relief if Ranger Suárez is forced to the IL. Taijuan Walker appears to be the team’s sixth starter right now. It might be for the best; Ross’s stuff hasn’t been up to par this spring, and while he’s managed a 3.12 ERA anyway, he’s fanned only four in 8 2/3 innings. He didn’t get a single missed swing today.

He gave up three homers. Walker had been a nice surprise for the Phillies this spring, but this looked more like the 2024 version. The 19 balls in play against him averaged 97.0 mph off the bat, and he wound up with a 19 percent CSW. Fortunately, the Phillies shouldn’t need Walker to play a key role this season.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson told reporters the issue isn’t as bad as last year when Suárez required a pair of injured list stints. The injury cropped up last weekend when he 29-year-old southpaw experienced back tightness. He’ll presumably continue undergoing treatment and be re-evaluated soon. With only one week left until Opening Day, it’s possible he’ll open the year on the shelf. There should be some clarity on his status in the coming days. It would most likely be veteran Taijuan Walker taking his rotation spot, if he winds up hitting the injured list.

Walker’s seven fastballs today averaged 92.9 mph, up from last year’s average of 91.5 mph. That doesn’t account for all of the velocity he’s lost in recent years — he averaged 94.2 mph in 2021 — but it will help his chances of holding it together if the Phillies have need for him in the rotation. He’s currently slated to be a mop-up man.

Dombrowski added that Painter, who looked extremely impressive in the Arizona Fall League, will throw in spring training, but will not pitch in Grapefruit League exhibition contests. The Phillies swung a trade for Jesús Luzardo and also signed swingman Joe Ross to fortify their starting rotation mix with the goal of having Painter built up enough from a workload standpoint to be ready to make an impact in the second half of next year. The 21-year-old top pitching prospect is expected to make an instant impact for fantasy managers once he arrives in the majors.

The Phillies cash in one of their best prospects here in the hopes that Luzardo will stay healthy after a 2024 season in which he missed time early with elbow soreness and later was shut down for the year because of a stress reaction in his back. He’s expected to have a normal spring, so for now anyway, the Phillies rotation is full, leaving Taijuan Walker apparently bullpen bound and Andrew Painter to toil in the minors for a spell. Luzardo was terrific in 2023, finishing with a 3.58 ERA and 208 strikeouts in 178 2/3 innings, and it looked like he had the potential to do even better going forward. The Phillies will have him for two seasons before he becomes eligible for free agency.