Reese Kaplan -- Walk This Way to an All Star Game

With the Mets about to enter the All Star Break it’s probably time to do a serious report card on how the team is doing.  One way of doing so is a player-by-player evaluation of who deserves an A, who deserves an F and the bevy of players who fall somewhere in between those two extremes.  

Another approach would be to categorize the various aspects of the game -- offense, defense, baserunning, starting pitching, relief pitching, defense, etc. and giving each of those disciplines an appropriate mark based upon some arbitrary metrics.  To some extent that has already been done throughout the 2021 season.  

No, instead I would like to concentrate on one of the few people who have been good news for the Mets this season, Taijuan Walker.  Prior to the Mets extending him a contract, I was one of the few people advocating that they take a look.  Yes, the man has had issues staying healthy.  No one can deny that the ability to play regularly has been a long term issue as Walker drifted from the Mariners to the Diamondbacks to the Blue Jays. 

Starting as a 20 year old in 2013, Walker put together three impressive starts, going 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA.  While most folks would like to see the ERA come down a bit lower, bear in mind that most Mets pitchers are still toiling in the minors for another 5-6 years, so you have to make some allowance for his young debut.  

Then at age 21 he returned for another 8 games with the Mariners, 5 of them being starts.  This time around he went only 2-3 but the ERA dropped by nearly a full run to 2.61.  His control was not as good this time around, but he was keeping players from making strong contact with 31 hits allowed in 38 IP.  The WHIP number was inflated by those walks but you can’t argue with the positive overall results.  

In 2015 while Yoenis Cespedes and the rest of their Mets made their improbable run to the World Series, Walker established himself as one of the Mariners regular starting pitchers at the ripe old age of 22.  (See a pattern here about how other clubs deal with younger players?)  

Unfortunately for Walker he came back down to earth.  His ERA rose significantly to 4.56 but his record was definitely on the positive side, going 11-8.  The control was greatly improved with just 2.1 walks per 9 IP this time around.  Hits were up a bit but the WHIP score reduced.  There were signs that this pitcher was going to be a good one.  

The following season in 2016 his record reversed to 8-11 over 25 starts but the ERA dropped down to 4.22.  The control remained good so it appeared that his potential was there for quality innings.  

In 2017 he got the ERA down to 3.49 which was enough for folks to start to notice.  Ironically, as his ability to keep runs from scoring improved, his control was not nearly as impressive.  He finished the year going 9-9 over 28 starts.  

Unfortunately he missed pretty much all of 2018 and 2019 due to injuries.  As a result, he kind of fell off many GM’s radars.  He did return in 2020 for the abbreviated season and split between Arizona and Toronto he went a combined 4-3 with just a 2.70 ERA.  While the total pitching volume was not that high -- just 53 innings and 11 starts -- the results were indeed impressive.  Once again the walks rose a bit but the hits were down with just 43 recorded in those innings pitched.  The signs were definitely there about quality and if he was indeed healthy then he was certainly worth exploring as he was still just 27 years of age which is about when Mets starters are making their rookie debuts.  

At age 28 the Mets lured him in with a $10 million opening salvo for the 2021 season.  The contract oddly took a step backwards in 2022 at $7 million and then there was a mutual option for a third year at $6 million with incentives that could bring it to $8.5 million.  When the Mets signed him I clapped my hands out loud but for the most part the reaction was once of a calculated risk given his injury history.

At the time everyone hoped he’d be able to deliver 4th or 5th starter capability with others ahead of him in the rotation.  No one anticipated that by early July he would be 7-3 with a 2.50 ERA..  He’s struck out 89 in 90 IP and only given up 63 hits.  At some point he could regress a bit, but this signing is one of those rare free agent contracts that looks both shrewd and for what’s being done appears to be a bargain.  

Everyone is aware that Jacob deGrom was not planning to pitch in the All Star Game due to his scheduled appearance on Sunday just before the break.  When he volunteered out of the game, the league needed to make someone from the Mets a representative and it would appear Marcus Stroman’s losing record and slightly higher 2.75 ERA worked against him.  No one would have guessed Taijuan Walker would be an All Star when the season began but you can’t argue with his quality this season.  

Interestingly, if you look at the date of the contract offer to Walker it was newcomer Zack Scott and the rest of the current front office who pushed to bring him on board as Jared Porter was fired a month earlier.  So far that’s a big feather in his cap as the Mets plan what to do in the front office for the 2022 season.  Here’s hoping his mid-year acquisitions can approach that level of baseball acumen.