Mets' Taijuan Walker says 10-strikeout performance was his best outing of season

In the first inning, Taijuan Walker threw 20 pitches, allowed a run and some hard contact, and looked to be in for a brutal outing.

But after an adjustment with his perceived tip, he finished Sunday with a season-high 10 strikeouts (four more than his previous) and held the Los Angeles Angels to just two hits without scoring from innings two through five.

Walker called it his best outing of the season, and rightfully so.

“I thought so. Thought it was good..." he said. "We corrected [the tip], and after that, started getting the swings and misses. I was being aggressive, too, with the fastball. The slider was there early in counts, and the splitter was the swing and miss pitch today.”

“Taijuan was the key today. That was special," said Buck Showalter.

According to Baseball Savant, Walker got six whiffs on his splitter. For someone who entered the game with a 4.8 K/9, which was among the lowest in the league, that certainly is a good sign, and he says his split/change is getting better.

"Especially since I’ve added slider, too," he said. "Just something else for them to look at. Right now, it’s not a swing-and-miss pitch, but I think it’s working towards there. If I can throw it for strikes, locate my fastball, I think it opens up my splitter a lot.”

The Mets went 5-5 on the road trip, going 1-1-1 in their three series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (split), San Diego Padres (loss), and Los Angeles Angels (win). While undermanned and facing three postseason contenders, two of which are pretty elite teams, Walker knows a .500 west coast trip is nothing to sneeze at.

“It’s been a long road trip for us," said Walker. "Final game, I think to break even on the road trip, guys were grinding, we got the runs when we needed to, the bullpen came in and shut it down… it was a good series win for us…

“We just kind of find ways to win. We had some guys banged up a little bit. It’s a tough road trip. Three of the best teams in baseball, and we held our own. Coming across the country like that, it says a lot about us, the way we handle ourselves and the way we just went out there and compete every night.”