HOUSTON — After two consecutive promising appearances, Seattle Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker appeared to have finally found his footing entering Saturday night, wondrous timing given his past success against the Houston Astros.
But after allowing one earned run over his previous two starts combined and 12 1/3 innings, Walker came crashing back to earth when the Astros touched him up for nine hits (including three home runs) and eight runs (seven earned) en route to an 11-4 victory. Walker had been 3-0 with a 2.70 ERA in his career in Houston and, following his previous two starts and his success in the Cactus League (4-0 with a 0.67 ERA in seven starts), the roller coaster Walker is riding is hard to stomach.
“I cautioned people before: Taijuan is a very talented young man and he’s going to make us all proud, but there are going to be growing pains,” Mariners manager Lloyd McClendon said. “Right now, we’re hoping three out of five starts are good.
“It’s just the way young pitchers are. You’re going to get a couple bad ones in between and they’re not going to look pretty sometimes.”
For what seems like a tantalizingly long time, Walker, 22, has been the Mariners’ top pitching prospect. And, for almost as long, observers have waited for him to put his considerable talents together and deliver on the promise that has been discussed since he was selected in the first round (43rd overall) of the 2010 draft. But as Walker (1-3, 8.74 ERA) rises and falls, patience will be needed throughout his development.