Phillies hoping extra rest is all Walker needs to rediscover velocity

The Phillies are banking on the notion that a couple extra days rest is all righthander Taijuan Walker needs to rediscover his velocity, which has been missing in action during recent starts.

But manager Rob Thompson is also well aware that Walker’s effectiveness has dropped off steeply in each of the last two seasons and that there’s no guarantee that pushing him back in the rotation will cure what ails him.

The good news is that, if Plan A works, the Phillies have at least one scheduled off day every week but one for the remainder of the regular season. That would allow them to continue with some variation of the six-man rotation they’ve been using since Michael Lorenzen was acquired at the August 1 trade deadline.

Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola are scheduled to start Tuesday and Wednesday in Toronto and then Lorenzen, Cristopher Sanchez and Ranger Suarez are lined up to face the Nationals on the road.

“He (Walker) said it’s August and he’s just kind of hit a wall,” the manager said. “We’ll see how he recoups here in the next couple days and then put a rotation together after that. We could go with a variation of the 6-man rotation. Or we could piggyback. Because Lorenzen’s innings are way up. Sanchez’s innings are way up. So just monitor that, too.

“I think once we give him rest and get him in the pen and see where his stuff is at, we’ll have a pretty good indication at that point.”

Of course, teams have to consider all contingencies. And the reality is that Walker has struggled later in the season in each of the last two seasons. In 2021 his earned run average jumped from 2.66 to 7.13 in the second half, last season it went from 2.55 to 4.80.

His ERA this season was 3.91 before his last two starts. In those games it’s 5.25 with an opponent’s OPS of .806. Most concerning, his fastball stubbornly stayed in the 90-92 mile per hour range against the Twins Saturday night.

Thomson wouldn’t speculate on what Plan B might look like. “We haven’t gone there yet,” he said. “We’re still kind of thinking that just giving him some rest will alleviate the problem. If it doesn’t, then we’ll have to put our heads together. I think once we give him rest and get him in the pen and see where his stuff is at, we’ll have a pretty good indication at that point.”

ROSTER ROULETTE

Righthanded reliever Luis Ortiz was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley before Sunday’s game against the Twins and righthander Yunior Marte was optioned to the IronPigs.

“We needed an arm more than anything. Luis is stretched out a little but, so that was the logical move,” Thomson said.

Ortiz hasn’t allowed a run over his last five appearances at Lehigh Valley. This will be his fifth stint with the big league team this season. Marte has a 5.14 ERA in 36 appearances for the Phillies this season.