It would help a lot if Sosa could stick there just a little bit.

Taijuan Walker

Corey Seidman wrote Walker was sitting 90-92 in his bullpen on Wednesday and was in the mid-high 80s this time last year. It’s progress.

After 15 starts of Walker, 7 from Tyler Phillips, and 4 from Kolby Allard, Dave Dombrowski made big improvements to their starting rotation depth. They traded one of their best prospects for Jesús Luzardo and signed Joe Ross. They will almost certainly need spot starts from others but they carry six options currently with Andrew Painter on the way in the summer.

Improving the rotation depth also means there aren’t many paths for Walker to make the club. Joe Ross can cover long-man innings and the Phillies would benefit from having more bullpen flexibility with the final spot.

The only scenario is if there are camp injuries. If one or two of the top six get hurt then Walker might slide into the rotation to open the season.

However, he would have to show over the next six weeks that he can be a viable major league starter. If players like Phillips, Mick Abel, Seth Johnson, Alan Rangel, or others outperform Walker then he’s likely getting released anyway.

90-92 is roughly what Walker sat last season so assuming he can generate another tick as spring goes on then there are some positive signs. He still has to prove it.

Michael Mercado reliever

Dombrowski said they now look at Michael Mercado as a multi-inning reliever, which is closer to the type of options the Phillies could use for the final spot in their bullpen.

Mercado had a strong MLB start against the Chicago Cubs last season but unraveled in every other MLB appearance. His fastball mostly sat between 94-95 in those outings when he needs to max effort more and throw 97. His three-pitch arsenal also would benefit from being a two-ish inning reliever.

Before any comments make fun of Mercado (hello AToweringFlyBall), it’s fair to say there is still plenty of upside in Mercado. He struck out over 32% of hitters in AAA of 2023 as a full-time reliever with the Rays. The Phillies tried making him a starter and it didn’t work so moving him back to the bullpen should be better to maximize his stuff.

There will be plenty of things to talk about until roughly March 10. Then the games get boring and we all want the season to start.