Seattle Mariners call up Taijuan Walker
The Seattle Mariners have lost six games in a row, have not made the playoffs since 2001 and with their 59-73 record, it looks like that is going to continue in 2013.
Their starting rotation has been anchored by Felix Hernandez and Hisashi Iwakuma, but as a team, their ERA is 4.40, good enough for 27th in MLB.
They are very excited about left-handed prospect Danny Hultzen, as well as 21-year-old right-hander Taijuan Walker, whom the team called up from Triple A Tacoma on Wednesday and is going to make his big league debut in the second game of a four game matchup against their AL West division foe Houston Astros on Friday.
This move comes after the team designated Aaron Harang for assignment. The 35-year-old right hander Harang is 5-11 with a 5.76 ERA with a 1.338 WHIP in 120.1 innings pitched in 2013.
MLB.com rated him as the #4 prospect and his promotion to the bigs comes a little less than two weeks after the Boston Red Sox called up #6 prospect Xander Bogaerts. Walker has spent time pitching between Double A Jackson and Triple A Tacoma in 2013. His combined stats accounted for a 9-10 record with a 2.93 ERA, 160 strikeouts and 1.196 WHIP in 141.3 innings pitched this season.
He is going to be facing an Astros team that 44-88 on the season as of Thursday. With Seattle being 27th in the Majors with a 4.40 ERA, the Astros are dead last at 4.86. Opposing Walker is going to be Brad Peacock. This 25-year-old righty has pedestrian numbers for the team with the worst record in baseball this season. With a 3-4 record, his ERA is 5.67 in 54 innings pitched and a 1.444 WHIP. Perhaps the most glaring stat of all is the fact that he has surrendered 13 home runs in those 54 innings he has hurled.
The M’s chose Walker in the first round, No. 43 overall, in the 2010 draft, made his debut for the Mariners in the 2010 Arizona Fall League and participated the 2012 Futures All Star Game. Through 4 seasons of professional ball, he has compiled a 23-26 record with a 3.49 ERA, fanned 400 batters with a WHIP of 1.227 in 371.2 innings thrown.