Apr 3, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker (99) throws a pitch during the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images
Taijuan Walker knew he had at least one fan cheering for him on Thursday.
Walker's mom, Nellie, flew in from Arizona to see her son pitch his first game of 2025. She would be there rooting him on as she always has, whether it has been in-person or from afar.
As for the rest of the 34,097 fans in attendance... well, he'd likely have to win them over.
They booed him in pre-game introductions. They booed him on Opening Day. Hell, they booed him in Clearwater during a Spring Training game.
"Obviously, you don't want to hear them, you know, constantly," Walker said. "It's part of the game. It's tough to play here, but when you are pitching and doing well and you're winning, it's the best kind of fans to have."
Walker hasn't had much opportunity to experience that. He's mostly dealt with the negative reactions. He's put on a brave front and taken them in stride. As for Nellie...
"She sits up there crying the whole time," Walker said.
So, if Nellie was going to be brought to tears again on Thursday, Walker wanted them to be tears of joy and not a reaction to the way the fans are treating her son.
So he went out there and just pitched. And pitched. and pitched.
He was locked in. He wasn't focused on anything else except throwing his mix of pitches. Cutter. Slider. Curve. Spitter.
And he was posting one zero after another.
The final batter he faced was Colorado DH Hunter Goodman, who has hit the ball hard this series. He homered off of both Cristopher Sanchez and Zack Wheeler.
But Walker struck him out with a slider. He celebrated with some raw emotion.
Can’t imagine how good today felt for Taijuan Walker. The emotion shows it. What a day from him. pic.twitter.com/qpaDL1r53A
The whole Phillies dugout was on it's feet. The guys in the bullpen were applauding him.
And so were a bunch of other people.
That's right, the fans - the same boo birds who let him know before the game that they weren't happy with the 2024 version of Taijuan Walker, stood, in unison, and let him know their appreciation for a job well done.
"I'm really happy for him, I really am," said manager Rob Thomson. "I'm proud of the work he's done in the offseason. He's a great teammate. He's always on the top step when he's not pitching. He's always cheering on his team. He's always there and he competes. I'm just so happy for him."
Taijuan Walker was fantastic today!
His final line:
6.0 IP | 3 H | 0 ER | 1 BB | 4 K | 74 Pitches pic.twitter.com/FaJ8KUStBx
When you're a pitcher and you throw six shutout innings, allowing just three hits, you're going to make a lot of people happy.
"He was able to use all of his pitches really effectively throughout the whole game," said J.T. Realmuto, who got to see up close and personally Walker throw his best start as a Phillie in almost two whole calendar years. "You saw the whole dugout was pumped for him after that last inning. Just to see him feeling that energy and being excited after his outing, that was really good for us."
Walker threw just 74 pitches. He probably could have gone another inning, but Thomson let him leave the game on a high. Sometimes, feeling that good about your outing is more important than trying to take down another inning.
Walker threw more sliders (17) than any other pitch. He threw all of his sliders to righties. It's a pitch he's been working to improve since the offseason. It worked as a separator pitch - one that is a different velocity from his cutter and his splitter that keeps hitters off balance.
"I'm getting more comfortable and confident with it," Walker said. "Just seeing the swings - I was getting them way out in front."
He also picked off Tyler Freeman at first base for the final out of the third inning. It was his 27th career pickoff. Since he entered the league in 2015, it's the most in the majors.
Now, the Rockies are the Rockies. They are an aggressive swinging team and frankly, they're not very good, so it'll be interesting to see if the Walker game plan is as good the next time the Phillies start him - which could be in Atlanta next week against the currently winless Braves.
But for one day, Walker got to experience the joy of winning a game he started again. And doing so, not because his offense put up a ton of runs for him, but because he was superb on the mound.
Nellie got to experience it too.
"She texted me a billion times," Walker said. She's super proud and super happy."
Today, she should be. And she shouldn't be alone with those feelings.
