Phillies waited too long to demote Taijuan Walker and now face the consequences

The Philadelphia Phillies finally demoted Taijuan Walker to the bullpen after a disastrous six-inning performance against the Houston Astros last week. He allowed 13 hits and six earned runs, striking out zero. Walker could not miss a bat all game. It was hard contact after hard contact, with Walker's velocity in the gutter and his pitch command completely out of whack.

It's an understandably difficult decision for Rob Thomson and the Phillies front office, as Walker is due $36 million over the next couple seasons. The financial incentive to help him along as a starter is considerable. And yet, this demotion was a long time coming. Walker hasn't pitched well all season and Philadelphia has a well-defined goal — to bring home a World Series title, even if it means bruising an ego along the way.

To his credit, Walker took his lumps in stride and appears to be handling his bullpen assignment like a pro. He's a good dude and it sucks that it came to this. But, it's fair to wonder why the Phillies didn't pull the plug sooner. This was viewed as inevitable for weeks. Again, money is a complicating factor, but we were always going to end up here.

Before his disasterclass in Houston, Walker allowed eight hits and six earned runs across just three innings against the Kansas City Royals. That was as good a time as any to yank Walker from the starting five, but Thomson put it off for another week, suffered one last blowout loss, then made the tough call.

Now, Philadelphia deals with the consequences of that hesitance.

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Phillies should've bit the bullet on Taijuan Walker demotion sooner

The Phillies, without a better option in the queue, turned to 26-year-old rookie Tyler Phillips in Walker's place for Tuesday's matchup against the Toronto Blue Jays. It couldn't have gone much worse.

Phillips coughed up eight hits and six earned runs in the first inning. He was subbed out with two outs on the board, unceremoniously concluding the Phillies initial bid to improve upon Walker's output in the No. 5 spot.

Philadelphia was able to rebound and win the game behind a dominant five-hit, three-home run performance from Kyle Schwarber, but it's plain as day that Phillips cannot be Walker's replacement. That's like subbing an orange for a tangerine. Sure, it's different, but how different are they, really? Phillips entered Tuesday's game having allowed 17 runs across his last three starts (11 innings). This meltdown was entirely predictable.

The obvious pivot is 27-year-old Kolby Allard, who has a 3.50 ERA through four appearances (three starts) at the MLB level this season. He's not the sexiest option, but absent a clear alternative, Allard easily takes the cake when compared to either Phillips or Walker. Philadelphia could've had Allard on the mound Tuesday night, but he's stuck with Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Allard was optioned to Triple-A on Aug. 26, which means he cannot rejoin the MLB roster until Sept. 10. In the end, that means Philadelphia will sacrifice three starts to Walker and Phillips before Allard is eligible to rejoin the big-league squad. Had the Phillies simply demoted Walker after his Kansas City stinker, Allard would have been able to face the Astros, Blue Jays, and next week's opponent. Oh, what could have been.

The vibes are strong in Philadelphia right now. The Phillies appear to be finding momentum at the right time. Still, this pesky fifth starting slot threatens to stall that momentum at the most inopportune moments. The sooner Allard can take over Phillips' spot in the rotation (formerly Walker's spot), the better.