Reeling Phillies release Taijuan Walker in another salary dump move

The first significant casualty of a horrendous beginning to this Phillies season was veteran starter Taijuan Walker, whom the club released Thursday morning. The Phillies will pay Walker roughly $15 million to not pitch for them the remainder of this season.Walker’s place on the team had become untenable; he had a 9.13 ERA in 22 2/3 innings with eight homers allowed. He was in the final year of a four-year, $72 million deal,  a contract designed to make Walker a mid-rotation stabilizer. He finishes his Phillies tenure with a 5.12 ERA and pitched two-thirds of an inning in one postseason game — as a mop-up man.Advertisement