The 2021 season was a tale of two halves for Taijuan Walker.

After an outstanding first half of the season that earned him his first career All-Star appearance, things went downhill for Walker in the second half. But on Wednesday night, the right-hander was able to end his season with a good taste in his mouth.

Despite he and Seth Lugo combining to give up the lead in the eighth inning, Walker pitched a tremendous game, allowing just two runs on two hits over 7.1 really strong innings.

“I told myself coming in today that I really wanted to finish on a good note,” Walker said after the game. “I wanted to try to go deep into the game and just really attack the zone and just feel good about my pitches walking off the mound, and I feel like I did that today. Going into the offseason, I know my second half was kind of up and down, wasn’t where I wanted it to be, but I have a lot to learn about the second half. I’m gonna go to work and be ready for next year.”

Walker ended the season with a career-high 30 appearances, and his 159.0 innings were the second most he’s ever thrown in the majors (169.2 with Seattle in 2015). And while his 4.47 season ERA may not be as low as he would have hoped, he still has plenty to be proud of from his first season in Queens.

“Me personally, I thought it was a really good season,” Walker said. “I know the numbers don’t look good, especially in the second half, but to be where I was the last three years and make 29 starts, 30 games total, and throw I think 160 innings [159.0 to be exact], I would say that’s a win.

“Obviously, we want to make the playoffs, we want to go deep into the playoffs and win a World Series, but I felt really good about my season. The training staff did a really good job of keeping me healthy and just working with me making sure I was able to go out there every fifth day.”

The Mets have a number of questions to answer when it comes to their starting rotation in 2022, with Noah Syndergaard and Marcus Stroman set to be free agents and Jacob deGrom coming off an injury-plagued season, but Walker appears to be one of the sure things for next season’s starting five.

So when it comes to this offseason, the right-hander wants to work on being more consistent heading into his second season with the Mets.

“Just be consistent throughout the whole year,” Walker said. “Next year, I plan on going 180-plus innings over 30 starts, but being consistent with it, try to go deep into games every time out."

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