“It’s frustrating,” said Taijuan Walker following an 8-4 loss to the Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
When the Philadelphia Phillies demoted the veteran starting pitcher back to the bullpen 10 days ago, the Phillies envisioned a higher-leverage role for Walker.
Walker entered the sixth inning with a 4-3 lead. He left the game down 5-4.
It was only the third relief appearance since this move to the bullpen, and the first two outings were scoreless but nothing special.
Walker recorded two outs before Ian Happ hit his second home run of the game, a two-run blast that put the Cubs on top for good.
“Usually, you can just wipe it off and get to the next inning and the next inning after that and kind of learn from that,” Walker told The Philadelphia Inquirer. “If I knew I was pitching tomorrow, maybe I could clean it earlier. But I don’t know. It’s frustrating. I guess it’s something new to me.”
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When you’ve been a starter for 13 seasons, it’s a tough transition to only throwing one or two innings.
“I mean, I’m accepting the challenge,” Walker said. “So, yeah, I’m going to go out there and do the best I can and compete and do what’s needed, I guess, and kind of just go from there.”
Walker, 32, is 2-5 with a 3.69 ERA in 13 appearances (eight starts) this season.
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