{"id":55590,"date":"2022-07-08T17:23:53","date_gmt":"2022-07-08T21:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=55590"},"modified":"2022-07-08T17:23:53","modified_gmt":"2022-07-08T21:23:53","slug":"taijuan-walker-thrives-for-mets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2022\/07\/08\/taijuan-walker-thrives-for-mets\/","title":{"rendered":"Taijuan Walker Thrives for Mets"},"content":{"rendered":"

Overcoming Tommy John surgery in 2018, Taijuan Walker thrives for the 2022 New York Mets<\/a>.\u00a0 After starting 93 games before age 25, injuries derailed his career for two years. However, ten seasons and four teams into his major league career, the 29-year-old Walker is pitching the best ball of his career.\u00a0 Sporting a 7-2 record and a 2.86 ERA in 2022, he’s a bulwark in the starting rotation for the first-place Mets.<\/span><\/p>\n

LWOB chatted with Walker at Citi Field before the Mets’ 4-1 victory<\/a> over the Texas Rangers<\/a> on July 3. Among other things, Walker discussed the ordeal of returning from injury, the rigors of a long season, and matching up against Justin Verlander.<\/span><\/p>\n

Listen to Your Body<\/h2>\n

Walker’s return from injury seemed complete last season when he was selected to the NL All-Star team in July. Unfortunately, he struggled after the All-Star Game, losing his last eight decisions<\/a> as his ERA skyrocketed from 2.66 to 4.47. Fatigue played a factor. “The second half wasn’t what I wanted it to be,” he acknowledged. Going from 50 innings pitched in 2020 to 160 innings in 2021 took its toll on him. “Whether I wanted to admit it or not, it does play a factor in having a full season, a full season of a grind,\u201d which he hadn\u2019t experienced since 2017.<\/span><\/p>\n

Does Walker worry about future injuries? No, but he’s diligent about taking care of himself. \u201cYou always want to listen to your body,\u201d Walker explained. \u201cAs a pitcher, we do something that\u2019s not natural,\u201d namely, throwing a ball overhand at maximum effort. \u201cYou have to go out there and put in the work to stay healthy and go out and compete.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker said a pitcher has to take care of himself the whole season. \u201cYou can\u2019t slack off, especially in the second half. That\u2019s when guys get tested. You really have to stay in your routines. Stay with your workouts and the recovery of it, too.\u201d A pitcher has to be aware of how he\u2019s feeling each day and adapt his routine to address it.<\/span><\/p>\n

Taijuan Walker Thrives in Absence of Aces<\/h3>\n

LWOB asked Walker about carrying more of the load in the absence of Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer but he didn\u2019t see it that way. \u201cYou have to go out there and stick to your game plan and stick to your strengths.\u201d Speaking of pitching without deGrom and Scherzer in the rotation, \u201cWe\u2019re not going to go out there and throw 103 MPH. We\u2019re not going to have the nasty stuff like that. We stick to our strength, all of our starters. We\u2019re good. We\u2019re up here for a reason. We know we can go up there and compete.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Mets fans on Twitter may suffer every loss but Walker takes a more level-headed approach. \u201cIt\u2019s just a long season. Teams get hot. The (Atlanta) Braves<\/a> won 14 straight. What are you going to do? That\u2019s just baseball. We can go on a 20-game run and be up 20 games.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Walker stated, \u201cIf we continue to win series, we\u2019ll be fine. That\u2019s all you can do. Win series and you\u2019ll be in a good spot at the end of the year,\u201d competing for a playoff spot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Free Agency<\/h4>\n

Recently, Walker matched zeroes<\/a> against Justin Verlander of the Houston Astros<\/a>. When asked if he was \u201camped up\u201d for the Verlander showdown, Walker said no. \u201cYou really have to stay within yourself.\u201d Looking back, he said, \u201cWhen I was younger, I used to do that,\u201d letting the crowd or the game affect him and causing him to overthrow. \u201cI learned it never works out for you, so you have to keep your same routines.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

After years of injuries and recovery, Taijuan Walker thrives for the 2022 Mets. While he has a player option for 2023, he could opt for free agency. If he chooses free agency, the Mets should sign him long-term. If Walker duplicates his early success in the second half of 2022, he could be in the rotation for years to come.<\/p>\n

Main Photo:<\/p>\n

Embed from Getty Images<\/a>