Taijuan Walker didn’t want to stop pitching, but he knew that continuing to do so would come at a price. He knew that with every pitch he threw, pain would shoot up from his ankle.
Walker, the newest addition to the Diamondbacks’ rotation, is hopeful next year will be different. He underwent surgery on his right ankle last month to have a bone fragment and bone spurs removed, and he says he can already feel the difference.
“I really couldn’t push off and use my legs,” Walker said during a conference call on Thursday, his first comments since joining the Diamondbacks in a pre-Thanksgiving deal that sent infielder Jean Segura to the Seattle Mariners.