Just because you’re one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball doesn’t mean you won’t have your bad nights. Especially when you’re still a teenager playing against competition years older than you.
Taijuan Walker, who doesn’t turn 20 until August, went 3 innings against Jacksonville yesterday and allowed 6 hits, 4 R, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 2 K. It was by far his worst start of the season.
Overall this pushes Walker’s ERA to 3.04 over 11 starts and 53.1 innings with 55 K and 20 BB.
Southern League All-Star Joe Dunigan went 2-for-4 with a HR and fellow All-Star Denny Almonte was 2-for-3 in the 4-2 loss. Nick Franklin was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Going tonight is Danny Hultzen, a fellow top pitching prospect along with Walker. Hultzen has struggled a bit with his command but that hasn’t stopped him from being nearly unhittable over his first 11 minor league starts. Hultzen has a 1.44 ERA and 32 hits allowed in 62.1 innings this season.
The game starts at 4:05 PST and you can choose between gameday, gameday audio, or Milb.tv from the Jackson website to follow.