Rob Thomson makes decision on Spencer Turnbull and Taijuan Walker, with really only one option available

Rob Thomson has finally made a decision on the Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation.

Spencer Turnbull has made six starts for the Phillies this season. He’s posted an impressive 1.67 ERA and a 2-0 record. He is two outs shy of qualifying to appear on the starting pitchers stat leaderboards but Turnbull’s 1.67 ERA would rank fourth in the National behind only Shota Imanaga (0.78), teammate Ranger Suarez (1.32) and Reynaldo López (1.50).

Spencer Turnbull will now join the bullpen and Taijuan Walker will take his spot in the rotation.

Here’s the deal: Spencer Turnbull has proved himself as a starter for the Phillies this season, obviously. However, Taijuan Walker lost his job due to injury while the team was still in Spring Training so the spot is technically his to lose.

Walker is also on a 4-year contract with nearly $52 million left to be paid, which to that point, the Phillies and Rob Thomson can tell you anything they want, but money owed clearly has a major factor in him taking over for Turnbull at this point in the season.

After starting the 2023 season year very strong, Taijuan Walker was pretty miserable down the stretch. On the year, he posted a 15-6 record with a 4.38 ERA over 31 starts but the majority of his success was found before the All-Star Break.

The Phillies didn’t even consider Taijuan Walker in the postseason last year. He was unreliable and known for getting off to slow starts and also could not be trusted in a high-leverage situation out of the bullpen.

2024 Spring Training didn’t help Walker’s case either. In fact, he was pretty miserable – highlighted by a disastrous start against the Baltimore Orioles in which he coughed up five hits, seven runs, three walks and three home runs in just 2.3 innings of work.

Clearly, something was wrong with Walker. His fastball didn’t move from the 89-92mph range all Spring and back on March 9th, it was as low as 88-90mph. Soon after – he was heading to the 15-Day IL.

In one start this season, Walker is 1-0 with a 8.53 ERA. On April 28th against the San Diego Padres, he tossed 6.1 innings, allowing eight hits, six earned runs, and two walks while striking out four.

Rob Thomson on Spencer Turnbull, Taijuan Walker rotation decision.

“He can do a lot of different things, because he gives you length, obviously,” Thomson said of Turnbull. “But he gives us another guy to get on right-handed hitters because we’ve struggled a little bit with that. I have the confidence in him to put him in leverage [spots], so I think for the time being, that’s the way to go.” [MLB]

The Phillies bullpen entered last night’s game against the San Francisco Giants allowing a .754 OPS to right-handed hitters – the fourth highest in Major League Baseball. Left-handed hitters have posted a .655 OPS. That’s the selling point for moving Turnbull to the bullpen and giving Walker his spot back in the starting rotation.

While it definitely makes sense, I think it’s also important to remember that Taijuan Walker is literally not an option in the bullpen to begin with so Turnbull, who has experience pitching in relief is really the only option the Phillies’ have. It’s either put Walker in the rotation or let $52 waste away in the dugout.

You would have to think that Turnbull in the bullpen is just a temporary solution.

I can’t see Taijuan Walker “returning to form” and remaining in the Phillies’ MLB-rotation for much longer but we’ll see how tonight works out when Walker takes the mound in against Giants’ pitcher Logan Webb looking to extend the Phillies winning-streak to five games.