Seattle Mariners News: Taijuan Walker to Debut on Monday
By Todd Pheifer
Greg Johns of MLB.com is reporting that Taijuan Walker will indeed make his season debut on Monday against the Houston Astros. Finally!
So much hype has surrounding the young Walker, and it will be interesting to see how well he performs. Granted, this is not his major league debut, but his time last year was quite brief and not a great opportunity to evaluate his potential in the future.
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In theory, this may be a good place for Walker to start. The Mariners have played well on the road this season and he will be facing a Houston Astros team that is in the cellar of the American League West and has a team batting average that ranks 28th in the league.
Will Taijuan Walker have a spectacular debut? Will he start a new era of Seattle pitching and quickly develop into the ace that the organization hopes he will be? Only time will tell.
His last three starts at Triple-A Tacoma are a contrast in effectiveness:
June 14: 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 7 SO, 3 BB
June 19: 5.0 IP, 6 ER, 7 H, 4 SO, 1 BB
June 24: 9.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 8 SO, 1 BB
If he pitches like June 24 or even June 14, all will be well. However, if Walker throws batting practice to the Astros and ends up with a June 19 line, there may be questions as to whether the organization promoted him too soon.
Realistically, Walker may fall somewhere in between. Effectiveness in the minors is one thing, but this is the real deal.
Welcome to the show, Taijuan Walker. Mariner Nation is rooting for you.