You might have noticed that Taijuan Walker was not very impressive over the first two months of the season. In his first nine outings, Walker allowed four runs or more five times. He walked four batters in nearly half of his starts, allowed eight homers in 43 frames, and only made it past the sixth inning once. His ERA was well over seven and hitters torched him for a .313/.393/.503 line. For sakes of comparison, Joey Votto is batting .282/.396/.495 in a hitters park. Walker looked overmatched and if the Mariners had had any confidence in their minor league starters he almost certainly would have been optioned to Tacoma by mid-May.
What has gotten in to Taijuan Walker?
