Taijuan Walker (SP, NYM) - Week 4 Waiver Wire Pickups

4 years ago by Doug Goldring

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ANALYSIS: Taijuan Walker has largely struggled to stay healthy over recent years, only managing to throw 67 1/3 total innings over the last three seasons combined, as he underwent Tommy John surgery in 2018 and strained a shoulder during his comeback. Throughout his whole career, Walker has never thrown more than 169 2/3 innings in a season.

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All those injuries can distract from the fact that when healthy, Walker has been a productive major league starter. For his career, Walker has produced an ERA of 3.82 and a WHIP of 1.24, with his career ERA- of 94 indicating that he has been an above-average pitcher in that time. Most importantly, Walker has never been more productive than in late 2020 and early 2021. In the shortened pandemic season, Walker produced a 2.70 ERA, which, despite an elevated 4.82 xFIP, was majorly skewed by two tough starts out of his first three to begin the year. Over his last eight 2020 appearances, Walker never allowed more than three earned runs. In 2021, it's been more of the same, as Walker carries a 2.61 ERA with a career-best 3.44 xFIP.

Walker also set a career high for strikeouts per nine innings in 2020 with 8.44, a number he has now far surpassed in early 2021 with a 10.45 rate over 10 1/3 innings, with a whiff rate in the 73rd percentile, by far his career best. As the strikeouts climb, so does Walker's value. Walker comes with his fair share of risk, but if you're looking for upside, he might finally be fulfilling his promise as a former top prospect.

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