The Phillies have a plan for Taijuan Walker when Aaron Nola returns

DENVER — Taijuan Walker made his return to the Philadelphia Phillies rotation on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies. However, manager Rob Thomson made clear on Wednesday that Walker starting again once injured teammate Aaron Nola returns is not in the plans.

Nola was placed on the 15-day injured list on Friday with a sprained right ankle. The injury opened a spot in the rotation for Walker to return as a starter against the Rockies, something that he hasn't done since May 1 against the Washington Nationals.

Since that start against Washington, the 32-year-old Walker has been used in long relief out of the Phillies bullpen, racking up 6.0 innings over two appearances. He earned a three-inning save on May 7 at Tampa Bay, allowing just one hit and striking out seven during that span.

That kind of success out of the bullpen has Thomson "excited" about what Walker can potentially do for the Phillies the rest of the season.

"I'm really excited to see him come out of bullpen when we put him back there, just to see if his stuff plays up," Thomson said before Wednesday's game. "The few times he's come out (of the bullpen), the first one in Tampa was unbelievable, but even the second time out, the first couple innings were really good. So I'm kind of excited about it."

Walker posted a 2.29 ERA in his first four starts of the season (19.2 innings), marking the second-best mark for him through his first four starts of his 13-year MLB career. Only in 2016 when he logged a 1.44 ERA through four starts (25.0 innings) with the Seattle Mariners has Walker kicked off the campaign with a lower ERA.

That strong start to this season also included 10.2 scoreless innings in his first two starts, marking just the 11th time since 1901 that a Phillies pitcher had blanked the opposition for 10-plus innings in their first two outings.

Still, despite the early success, Thomson indicated that once Walker returns to the bullpen, he will likely stay there, even forgoing the occasional spot start if needed.

"I think at some point we have to decide when Nola is back, even if we need a spot start, we come get somebody else," Thomson said. "Just leave him (Walker) wherever he's at and keep him healthy."