Ahead of the final game of their four-game set against the Chicago Cubs, the Philadelphia Phillies announced that they have released veteran pitcher Taijuan Walker, per Charlotte Varnes of The Athletic.

The Phillies released Taijuan Walker.

— Charlotte Varnes (@charlottevarnes.bsky.social) 2026-04-23T15:40:38.406Z

 

In addition to Walker’s release, the Phillies called up right-handed relief pitcher Nolan Hoffman from Triple-A Lehigh Valley. They also sent reliever Alan Rangel back down to Triple-A after calling him up earlier this week.

For most Phillies fans, the decision to part ways with Walker doesn’t come as a surprise, who has struggled mightily out of the fifth spot in the starting rotation this season. The 33-year-old right-handed pitcher has a 1-4 record and 9.13 ERA across five appearances (four starts).

Walker’s final appearance with the ball club was on Wednesday night against the Cubs. The veteran hurler did not start the game due to his first-inning performance (24.75 ERA). Therefore, the Phillies went with southpaw Kyle Backhus as an opener and brought Walker in for the second inning.

Sadly, the change did not help Walker, who allowed eight hits, five runs (four earned), two home runs, a walk, and landed one strikeout across four innings of work.

Walker was in the final year of a four-year, $72 million deal that he signed with the Phillies back in Dec. 2022. The hope was that Walker would be a solid starting pitcher at the back end of the rotation. However, that never materialized for Walker, who leaves with a 5.12 ERA across 89 games (71 starts).

His best season with the club from a win-loss perspective was in 2023, where he went 15-6 in 31 starts. But Walker still had a 4.38 ERA. The next season, 2024, did not go well for the veteran as his ERA skyrocketed to 7.10 in 83.2 innings.

Last season, Walker showed some improvement as he bounced between the starting rotation and the bullpen, posting a 4.08 ERA across 34 appearances (21 starts).

However, that all went downhill this season. Opponents were hitting .353 off Walker and had an OPS of 1.074 — both career-worst for the veteran pitcher.

Needless to say, it will be interesting to see where Walker lands next after his tenure with the Phillies ended on a sour note. As for the rest of the ballclub, they need to snap their eight-game losing streak, or more changes could be on the horizon.