Booting Taijuan Walker won't fix what's broken with the Phillies

The Philadelphia Phillies fell 9-0 to the Atlanta Braves in Friday's series opener. Philly has now lost three straight home games by six or more runs for the first time since 1989. Not much has gone right for the 8-11 Phillies this season. The problems run deep, but the easiest target for anxious fans is, of course, Taijuan Walker.

In the final year of that disastrous $72 million contract, Walker is reaching new lows this season. He gave up seven hits, three walks and seven earned runs across four innings against Atlanta, and now has a 9.36 ERA and a 2.04 WHIP through his first four starts. It's the highest ERA for a Phillies starter through four starts since 2000.

Taijuan Walker is awful — but he is not the Phillies' main problem

Walker's struggles are hardly a surprise. He kept his head above water for most of 2025, but he has been a glaring weakness for the majority of his three-plus years in Philadelphia. What should actually scare Phillies fans, however, is just how little removing Walker from the equation would actually accomplish.

This is a temporary blip, after all. Zack Wheeler continues to plow through his rehab assignments and should debut in the Majors before long. But what exactly can the Phillies expect from Wheeler, who's recovering from a historically tricky shoulder ailment? Thoracic outlet syndrome basically nuked Stephen Strasburg's career — and Markelle Fultz's career, if Philly fans are looking for a local analog. The Fultz issue was not a one-for-one, but Wheeler had a blood clot removed from his rib cage area and now has nervous system complications to deal with.

Wheeler has allowed six runs in 10.1 innings with Triple-A Lehigh Valley so far — a 5.23 ERA. His secondary pitches look sharp enough, but that vaunted fastball is sitting well below its normal velocity and lacks the shape that has made it one of the most dominant pitches in baseball for years.

He's still taking it easy through rehab, so Phillies fans shouldn't panic. But it's also fair to wonder if a 35-year-old Wheeler, coming off of major shoulder surgery and nearing retirement, will fully regain ace status.

Moreover, the Phillies' lack of depth is alarming. Wheeler will bump Walker to the bullpen, but what happens if another starter gets hurt? Andrew Painter could hit the rookie wall at some point. Jesús Luzardo is all out of whack right now and he has his own injury history to contend with. There's no guarantee Wheeler won't suffer setbacks. The Phillies are essentially a tweaked elbow away from reverting back to Walker.

And if the Phillies decide to waive Walker, or simply to look elsewhere in the organization, who is prepared to step up? Bryse Wilson and Tucker Davidson didn't exactly inspire confidence in spring training as the only "proven" vets. Jean Cabrera, Philadelphia's No. 15 prospect at MLB Pipeline, has an 8.03 ERA through three Triple-A starts this season. The 24-year-old still feels a year or two away from becoming truly dependable as a back-end rotation arm, if that.

Most zealous Phillies fans might point to 2025 first-round pick Gage Wood, who is tearing through SIngle-A competition in Clearwater right now. But he's in Single-A, folks. Do not count on the Phillies, historically very patient with their prospects, bypassing so many steps in hopes that Wood can handle the deep end right out of the gate. He almost certainly cannot; that is not a real option.

The Phillies' issues extend well beyond the rotation

If the Phillies' only issue was getting five healthy arms in the rotation, that'd be one thing. But that is arguably a secondary concern to Philadelphia's sluggish offense.

Practically the whole lineup, with the exception of Bryce Harper, Kyle Schwarber and Brandon Marsh, is on the struggle bus right now. Trea Turner has a .703 OPS and 92 OPS+. Alec Bohm, embroiled in an unfortunate legal scandal and playing for his next contract, is M.I.A. at the plate. His .402 OPS and -0.3 fWAR aren't exactly indicators of a looming turnaround.

Justin Crawford and JT Realmuto have been pleasant surprises toward the end of the lineup, but point blank, the Phillies rank 25th in batting average and total hits. Beyond Schwarber and Harper, there is a scarcity of even semi-dependable bats. Worse yet, the Phillies are completely incompetent against left-handed pitching.

The Phillies' elite rotation has driven winning these past couple seasons, but the lineup features no shortage of glitzy, star-caliber names. If the Phillies' efforts at run prevention aren't working, this lineup is supposed to pick up the slack. Demoting Otto Kemp for Felix Reyes could help on the margins, especially against southpaws, but it's hard to point to a single successful element of this Phillies roster. The whole operation is below water at the moment.

How can the Phillies get back on track?

There is a mounting crusade against manager Rob Thomson, and those frustrations are understandable. The fan base's real ire, however, ought to fall on Dave Dombrowski and the front office. There was only so much Philly could do about Bo Bichette's last-second change of heart, but their inability to pivot and meaningfully upgrade the roster — plus their inability to find a single decent depth arm on the open market, knowing what we all know about Walker — is unforgivable.

The Phillies should experience some level of positive regression in the months ahead, but a complete turnaround would require unbelievable injury luck in the rotation and uncharacteristic improvement from a lineup with longstanding and well-documented flaws.

If the Phillies truly want to move the needle toward World Series contention — and that's the only logical goal at this point — Dombrowski needs to hammer the trade market. The Phillies should be looking for another quality arm, one at least worth stretching out of the bullpen on occasion. Philadelphia also needs to find a couple half-decent righty bats to solidify the middle of the lineup. Bohm in particular cannot be the Phillies' starting third baseman past the trade deadline.

Given Philadelphia's limited farm assets and Dombrowski's uncommonly tame approach to recent in-season trade pursuits, however, it's hard to bank on the Phillies making these necessary improvements.

Taijuan Walker is a problem, but he's not the problem — and the Phillies have shown time and time failed to address the problem.

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