Am I going to overreact to Taijuan Walker’s save? You betcha!

The new Goose Gossage is here

In the days of yore, there was a species of pitcher that existed unlike anything that exists in the game today. Long before the days of Eckersley and Hoffman and Mo, there was Sparky and Goose and Rollie. These men were the closers of their day, able to go and put out fires sparked by the opposition, dousing them with their array of pitches and demeanor on the mound. They were filing the role as a proverbial “fireman”: somehow defying common knowledge by putting out fires with gasoline (at times). These were no mere one inning relief pitchers. No, these RELIEVERS, tasked with holding down the fort until the umpire signaled the final out, preserving the win for their team in, at times, dominant fashion.

The Phillies, always ahead of the curve when it comes to pitching, have seemingly resurrected the role, passing the baton to one Taijuan Walker. He is now the keeper of the flame.

Alright, we’re getting ahead of ourselves. We are smart enough to know that small sample sizes exist and that really any pitcher can look outstanding across any three inning group. You don’t need me to tell you this. But in the hours after his performance, there is allowed to be a moment of happiness in the outing that Walker just had. It was unexpected and dominant. Asked to finish off a game that was already in hand, Walker went out and threw three scoreless innings against the Rays, striking out seven, allowing a single hit and earning his first save in the process. He wasn’t blowing the Tampa Bay hitters away, yet he still generated swings and misses nonetheless.

Maybe Tampa Bay was caught offguard at the sight of Walker entering later in the game than they are used to seeing him. Maybe his newfound velocity surprised them. Everything he threw, all of his pitches in his arsenal, ticked up a bit, always a good thing for a starting pitcher going to relieve others.

It was a magnificent performance, no matter how you slice it. Now, let’s grab that cup of cold water right quick…

What are the indications that Walker can do that again?

Being a reliever is a different animal. Each reliever has to be ready to go on any given day, though some days are nonfactors due to the manager wanting to make sure that arm gets its due rest. Still, to be a reliever means it’s a completely different regimen and schedule that a reliever has to keep rather than a starter. Starters generally know when they are going to pitch and build their weekly schedule around that. Running, lifting, throwing, bullpens, those routines are carefully crafted so that when the day comes for a starter to get on the bump, he is at mostly full capacity and ready to go. Relievers don’t have such luxury. The phone might ring one night and the bullpen coach might signal to him or he might not. It’s always an unknown.

Taijuan Walker has done the starter’s routine all spring. He has trained to be a starter and prepared to be a starter and now has to transition to being a reliever thanks to the rotation being full. It’s somewhat accepted on the outside that it is an easier transition than going from reliever to starter, but we don’t know that for sure. Each time it occurs usually depends on the person that has to make the change. Walker seems like the type of person that has the demeanor to be a reliever if he chooses, but until we see it in action, we just don’t know how he’ll perform. Heck, the team is already saying he’s going to get a start coming up in the next week or two. It’s likely why they asked him to finish the game last night, to keep his arm strength up to make that start.

Last night, there was evidence that Walker can make a good reliever. As I stated before, the performance he had was quite unexpected, particularly given that he has never really been a consistent reliever before. It’s probably good that he came into the game that was more or less decided, thus didn’t have to be thrust into a leveraged situation. But until he can show that he can adapt to the role and craft himself into a reliever, there is allowed to be dose of skepticism that that outing was real.

Listen, I was just as happy as you that Walker pitched as well as he did. He seems like a genuinely nice person and we should all wish him nothing but success any time he takes to the hill. You’ll just have to pardon me if I wait until he consistently repeats it in some fashion before I crown him “Walker, fireman reliever”.