Walker stays strong as Phillies roll to best start since '95

PHILADELPHIA -- Bryce Harper didn’t need long to consider the differences between this Phillies team and the ones that played deep into the past two Octobers.

It starts with starting pitching.

“Every time they go out, they’ve been absolutely lights out,” Harper said following a 5-4 victory over the Giants on Sunday night at Citizens Bank Park.

“Whenever you have that, the ability to win is way higher. Right?”

The Phillies are 24-11, which is the best record in baseball. It is the franchise’s best start through 35 games since 1995, when they also went 24-11. There are many reasons why the Phils, who have won five in a row, including three of the first four in this set with the Giants, are playing well. But the rotation is No. 1.

Philadelphia’s 2.65 ERA among its starters is the second-best mark in baseball. It has been so good that one of the team’s only issues has been its surplus of starting pitching depth, namely, Taijuan Walker's return to the rotation and how it might impact Spencer Turnbull.

Walker, who went 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA and threw 172 2/3 innings last season.

Turnbull, who posted a 1.67 ERA in six starts this season as Walker’s replacement.

Walker allowed three runs in 6 1/3 innings against the Giants. He carried a 5-1 lead into the seventh with help from Harper’s three-run homer in the fourth. Walker allowed a two-run home run to Giants second baseman Thairo Estrada in the seventh. He has a 3.00 ERA (four earned runs in 12 innings) through the sixth inning in two starts. He has a 67.57 ERA (five earned runs in two-thirds of an inning) in the seventh.

Two homers in the seventh -- both coming on his 90th pitch -- have inflated his line.

Other than those late homers -- manager Rob Thomson said it doesn’t necessarily mean he will give Walker an earlier hook next time -- Walker said his first two starts have gone as well as he expected.

“I didn’t expect to go into the seventh inning back-to-back times, but I’m glad I’m able to,” he said.

Walker’s velocity was down in the spring before he suffered a right-shoulder injury late in camp, putting him on the injured list. For weeks, Thomson and Walker answered questions about his velocity.

Would it come back?

If it didn’t, could he win without it?

Walker’s four-seam fastball averaged 90.9 mph on Sunday, down 1.9 mph from last season. But he located. He walked only one batter. He struck out seven, including five looking.

“It’s all about location, I think, and just really pitching,” Walker said. “Mixing it up. Obviously, the velo’s not there. But I threw a lot of four-seams today at 91-92, but I was getting swings and misses, getting popups and stuff, getting some takes off it.

“I think just really focusing and pitching, and just mixing it up.”

The Phillies this weekend moved Turnbull to the bullpen, where they will try their best to keep him stretched out. They said he could piggyback left-hander Cristopher Sánchez’s starts. He could start in Sánchez’s place at some point, if the matchup makes sense.

If neither happens, they said Turnbull could become a high-leverage reliever, not unlike left-hander Matt Strahm.

If this whole situation seems unusual, it is. How many other teams would love to have somebody like Turnbull, who is pitching so well that people wonder if the guy who won 15 games last year can successfully replace him or not?

But the pitchers in the clubhouse seem to understand the situation, although Turnbull has said he wants to start.

Walker, Turnbull and Aaron Nola chatted in a corner in the clubhouse following Sunday night’s win.

“I think everyone knows he did an amazing job,” Walker said about Turnbull. “He’s going to be back in the rotation at some point probably. It’s a long season. It’s very rare to go through a season with just five starters. He did a heck of a job, and we’re going to need him.

“I know he’s going to be nasty out of the bullpen. And for him to at the very last minute step into the rotation and do what he did, it’s honestly phenomenal.”

The Phillies have not used fewer than 10 starters in a season since 2014, when they used nine. They haven’t used fewer than nine since 2011, when they used seven.

That 2011 team won a franchise-record 102 games. This team is on pace to win 111.

There is a long way to go, of course. But great starting pitching can take a team places.