Phillies cut Taijuan Walker to end $72 million disaster

The Phillies finally had enough of Taijuan Walker.

Philadelphia released the veteran pitcher Thursday morning with his ERA sitting at 9.13 ERA across five outings after taking the loss in the Phillies’ eighth straight setback Wednesday against the Cubs.

The team will eat the remainder of the $18 million he is owed this year after signing him to an ill-fated four-year, $72 million contract.

“We tried everything you possibly can,” Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski said, per NBC Philly. “It just has not been able to be effective for us this past year and over the last year.”

The Phillies are tied with the Mets for the worst record in the NL (8-16) and Walker is the first casualty of the reigning NL East champion’s horrific start.

This move had been a long time coming since there had been questions about his future with the team dating back to 2024 when the Phillies demoted him to the bullpen.

Walker went 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA in his first season with the team in 2023, before going 3-7 with a 7.10 ERA primarily as a starter in 2024.

The righty provided value last year across 34 outings, including 21 as a starter, but he cratered this year.

Walker allowed the most runs (25) and earned (23) runs among all pitchers entering Thursday, surrendering five, seven, two, four and seven runs across his five outings, respectively.

The Phillies tried to help him Wednesday against the Cubs by using an opener, but Walker still yielded five runs (four earned) on eight hits in four innings in the 7-2 loss.

Walker went 24-25 with a 5.12 ERA across 89 appearances (71 starts) for the Phillies, and he’s the second notable player to recently be cut with by the team with a year left on their contract.

Philadelphia previously cut ties with outfielder Nick Castellanos, who landed with the Padres.

The returning Zack Wheeler will take Walker’s spot in the rotation.