When Matt Moore toes the rubber Wednesday night for his first start of 2017, he’ll be opposed by a young, hard-throwing right-hander making his first start for the Diamondbacks, Taijuan Walker. Walker, along with infielder Ketel Marte, was acquired from Seattle by the D’backs via trade back in November for Jean Segura, Mitch Hanniger, and Zac Curtis. The trade came just weeks after Arizona had relieved GM Dave Stewart of his duties following a season in which he signed Zack Greinke to a $206 million contract, traded away former number one overall pick Dansby Swanson, and assembled a team that finished 69-93.
Who is Taijuan Walker?
The Diamondbacks aren’t expected to compete for a division crown this season but the addition of Walker does give hope to, besides Greinke, an otherwise unaccomplished starting rotation. Walker was drafted by the Mariners out of high school in the first round of the 2010 draft and it’s worth noting that after being drafted he ranked sixth on MLB.com’s list of top 100 prospects. He quickly shot through the minor league ranks before making his big league debut in 2013. He pitched in just 8 games in 2014 before settling into the Mariners rotation for 29 starts in 2015. Last season Walker began the year in dominant fashion posting a 2-0 record with an ERA of 1.44 in April. His hot start was halted after an injury caused him to make just 2 starts in June and ultimately throwing just 134 1/3 innings.
Walker is a big kid, 6’4 235 lbs, and he throws HARD. The D’backs are hoping he can develop into a front end starter that can carry a 200 inning load, and with a body like that he should. He’s got good stuff which should translate well to the National League. His fastball clocks steadily around 95 mph, a hard biting slider, a split finger fastball with good diving action, and much slower curveball that he often uses for ‘get-it-over’ strikes. At times he’s also thrown a sinker that garnered a high swing and miss % in 2016.
The keys to Walker’s success early in the season will be how well he throws the slider off of his fastball. He’s been known to drop his elbow and get under the pitch which has contributed to his 52 home runs allowed over the last two seasons. Walker has made just six starts versus National League opponents but he’s fared well posting a 3.31 ERA with 32 strikeouts over 35 1/3 innings.
Matt Moore could be very, very good.
It’s always tough as a fan when your team trades away a fan favorite like the Giants did with Matt Duffy, but they may have gotten another soon to be fan favorite in Matt Moore. Moore was dazzling for the Giants down the stretch in 2016, nearly tossing a no-hitter at Dodger Stadium before throwing eight innings of one-run ball in the NLDS against the Cubs before….well…we won’t get into that…
The point is that Matt Moore has found a new home in San Francisco and the Giants are looking to the 27-year old lefty to help anchor a rotation that has the potential to be the best in the NL West, and maybe even all of baseball. We hear a lot about pitcher making adjustments the second, third, and fourth times they face teams but this rings especially true for a guy like Moore who’s spent all but two months of his career in the American League.
Moore faced the D’backs just twice last season but his only career start Chase field was one of his best as a Giant. He earned a win after lasting seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out a season high 11 batters.
The Diamondbacks will more than likely stack right handed hitters against Moore on Wednesday night so the key to his success will undoubtedly be his cutter. He’s at his best when he can throw his 12-6 curveball for a strike and pepper change ups on the outside part of the plate to set up his hard cutter, which breaks in to right handed hitters. Paul Goldschmidt owns the best career numbers on the D’backs against Moore, he batted .556 with 1 home run, and 1 double in nine at bats last season.
Watch for Moore to establish the inside part of the plate early in the game. If he does so successfully, the Giants could be looking at their first winning streak of 2017.
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