Taijuan Walker

[dude82]

Another dominant performance by Walker last night. Is there any doubt that he's in the rotation at this point?

On a related note, how weird is it that we've seen more of his starts on TV than we have any of our other starters/potential starters this spring? We get to see Felix tomorrow, but I think we've seen Walker at least three times on TV now.

 

[NWinAZ]

Ryan Divish ‏@RyanDivish 8h8 hours ago

Asked if the No. 5 spot in their rotation has been locked down, manager Lloyd McClendon replied: "No."

Ryan Divish ‏@RyanDivish 8h8 hours ago

Indeed ... RT @jtperks: @RyanDivish “My evaluation is a little different than yours, I don’t worry about numbers per se." - Lloyd McClendon

 

[cezero]

so many reasons he might have said that, right?

no manager should ever reveal their starting rotation through a beat writer's prompt. it's something the team announces on its own terms.

 

[gowazzu02]

Im going to choose to be positive and say that Lloyd wants to keep pushing walker to be his best self and he thinks naming him right now doesn't help walker.....

Im hoping Lloyd isn't being pissy and holding onto the grudge from last year.......

 

[cezero]

Im going to choose to be positive and say that Lloyd wants to keep pushing walker to be his best self and he thinks naming him right now doesn't help walker.....

i think that's got to be a big part of it as well

 

[PolarVortex]

Lloyd is being a doosh. If you go by ERA, Walker has had the best spring in the entire major leagues for pitchers. The last spot in the rotaion shouldn't be between Walker and Elias. It should be between Elias and Happ.

I worry about how many games Happ is going to cost us in April and May because Lloyd is too damn stubborn to move him to the pen where he belongs.

 

[cezero]

I disagree about Happ. Combine the crazy bounces on that hideous turf in Toronto with the fact that it's one of the best parks to hit homers and doubles in, I see Happ having as good or better numbers than Young with the M's if he can pitch like he did last year and stay healthy.

And again, I wouldn't want McClendon or any other manager outlining his starting rotation based on a beat writers questions. It's something that teams announce on their own terms.

 

[PolarVortex]

I disagree about Happ. Combine the crazy bounces on that hideous turf in Toronto with the fact that it's one of the best parks to hit homers and doubles in, I see Happ having as good or better numbers than Young with the M's if he can pitch like he did last year and stay healthy.

And again, I wouldn't want McClendon or any other manager outlining his starting rotation based on a beat writers questions. It's something that teams announce on their own terms.

i think happ will improve too, but i just don'y think he will be one of the five best starting pitchers we have right now, today. I'd rate them:
Felix
Iwakuma
Paxton
Walker
Elias
Happ
Rameriz
Prias
Hultzen

 

[cezero]

Happ and Elias will be a tough choice, I'm sure.

Not sure about Happ's option situation, and putting him in the pen would be a truly bizarre use of resources.

I'd be fine with either starting the year in the rotation, but Happ makes a lot more sense to me.

 

[EVille3]

Happ and Elias will be a tough choice, I'm sure.

Not sure about Happ's option situation, and putting him in the pen would be a truly bizarre use of resources.

I'd be fine with either starting the year in the rotation, but Happ makes a lot more sense to me.

Happy makes the most sense to me at this point over Elias for pure fact that he is lefty.

 

[cezero]

elias is a lefty, too

 

[unlvmariners]

i think happ will improve too, but i just don'y think he will be one of the five best starting pitchers we have right now, today. I'd rate them:
Felix
Iwakuma
Paxton
Walker
Elias
Happ
Rameriz
Prias
Hultzen

I agree with this and have had discussions around this same topic. I absolutely think Happ and Elias are the 5th and 6th best starting pitchers on the team. Personally I think Elias is 5 and Happ is 6. Despite that I still think you start the season with Happ on the roster and Elias in AAA. We will use more than 5 guys to start games over the course of the season and Elias is the first call and it is a much better call than Ramirez. We need to maintain some depth at SP which I don't believe we have much of beyond Elias and it is completely gone if you get rid of Happ.

 

[gowazzu02]

totally agree with unlv. We will use more then 6 starters this year. So Elias, and unfortunately Ramirez will be seen from eventually. Happer is the vet, and will most likely have a safeco joe or Chris forever Young like safeco revitalization. I mean he's going from the homer dome in Toronto to the Marine layer and safeco....

 

[EVille3]

elias is a lefty, too

damn, you're right...long off-season...obviously i haven't seen any spring games to jog the memory

 

[cezero]

...and unfortunately Ramirez will be seen from eventually.

erasmo's out of options, so i doubt that very much. lloyd already said they wouldn't use him for the bullpen, and there's no way he's going to be on the roster as a starter come opening day.

makes what unlv said about depth even more relevant.

 

[seattlefan75]

I think Elias will be the odd man out and wont be in the starting 5 rotation come opening day but at some point he is going to start, its almost impossible for all 5 pitchers make it from opening day to the end of the season I see elias getting atleast 10 starts I wouldnt be surprised if another starter came up and pitched too people get hurt all the time you have to be ready for it

 

[gowazzu02]

erasmo's out of options, so i doubt that very much. lloyd already said they wouldn't use him for the bullpen, and there's no way he's going to be on the roster as a starter come opening day.

makes what unlv said about depth even more relevant.

no of course he's not in the rotation day one. but remember just last year, Kuma, Pax and Walker were all injured at the same time......

 

[cezero]

no of course he's not in the rotation day one. but remember just last year, Kuma, Pax and Walker were all injured at the same time......

ramirez is out of options. it's unlikely the m's will keep him on the MLB roster since he has no place as a starter or part of the pen, since they'd have to option away meaningful pitching pieces. and they can't option him to Tacoma.

not sure how else i can explain.

 

[NWinAZ]

Having options left actually works against fringe players which Elias is on this staff. So he goes down to Tacoma and waits for a break, or a sprain...see what I did there?...and Happ becomes are .400 pitcher and stays in rotation as long as he stays healthy and makes it to the 5th each game.

Ramirez will be dealt or cut by next week and I am hoping we can deal for a AAA pitcher and centerfielder (not sold on Jones) for insurance reasons.

Should know by end of next week.

 

[dude82]

Im going to choose to be positive and say that Lloyd wants to keep pushing walker to be his best self and he thinks naming him right now doesn't help walker.....

Im hoping Lloyd isn't being pissy and holding onto the grudge from last year.......

It may not even be about pushing Walker. For all we know, he's trying to push the other guys that are supposed to be in contention with Walker for that spot to get them pitching well so we can either get something for them in a trade or save those guys for when we need someone to step into the rotation and pitch for a bit. That being said, my money is on this being a ploy to push Walker to continue pitching the way he's capable of. I've never bought in to this idea that Lloyd has some sort of grudge against Walker. Taijuan is one of the five best starting pitchers we have and if Lloyd had/has such a big problem with him that he'd rather keep him down in the minors to rot than help win more games in the majors, then we ought to just trade Walker and try to get equal value so it isn't a distraction for the entire season. Otherwise, Lloyd's just shooting himself and the organization in the foot. He (McClendon) says he's here to win. Keeping Walker out of the rotation when he's healthy and pitching well does not give us the best chance of doing that.