SEATTLE — Nearly eight weeks remain in the regular season, but Seattle Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker might be approaching the finish line as he heads into Tuesday’s start against the Baltimore Orioles.
Walker, who turns 23 on Thursday, is nearing a career-high in innings, which will put him under increased scrutiny in coming weeks.
Even now, manager Lloyd McClendon admits he’s “not comfortable” that Walker can continue to pitch every fifth game through the end of the season.
“My responsibility to Taijuan Walker and to this organization,” McClendon said, “is make sure our pitchers are as healthy as we possibly can. Being mindful of his innings is part of that process.”
McClendon said lefty Mike Montgomery, while older at 26, must also be watched over the closing weeks. Some clubs are less rigid in setting innings limits on pitchers who are 25 or older.
“It’s not like he’s 36,” McClendon said. “If we think this kid has the ability to pitch in this league for the next 10 years, at 25 or 26, what’s the difference?”
Walker heads into Tuesday’s start at 8-7 with a 4.67 ERA through 129 innings over 22 starts. He has never exceeded 1411/3 innings in five previous professional seasons since his selection in the 2010 draft.
He logged 139 innings a year ago, including time in the Arizona Fall League.
“Stress has a lot to do with it,” McClendon said, “and, obviously, the innings at this level are a lot more stressful than the ones at Double-A and Triple-A.
“But I think, as a general rule of thumb, you look at 25-to-30, sometimes 35, more innings than the year before (as an acceptable maximum).”
That puts Walker’s maximum workload at roughly 175 innings. Counting Tuesday, that projects to another seven or eight starts. He would reach his maximum with about two weeks left in the season.
Montgomery is at 1331/3 innings, counting his time earlier this season at Triple-A Tacoma. That already exceeds his totals from the two previous seasons: 126 innings a year ago and 1311/3 innings in 2013.
While Montgomery did work roughly 150 innings in 2012 (1492/3) and 2011 (1502/3), clubs generally look at the two previous years in determining an acceptable workload.
One consequence of the mounting innings for Walker and Montgomery is lefty swingman Vidal Nuno, who started Monday, could get an extended look in the rotation.
“Right now, he’s still in the rotation,” McClendon hedged. “Five days from now, as we speak, he’ll still be in the rotation.”
Nuno, 28, was at 96 innings prior to Monday’s start, including his time this season in the minors. A year ago, he pitched 1611/3 innings in 31 games, including 28 starts, for Arizona and the New York Yankees.
McClendon also reiterated left-hander Roenis Elias has to pitch better at Tacoma in order to reclaim a spot in the big-league rotation.
Elias, 27, is still 30 innings shy of his 2014 total, which should position him, roughly, for 10 more starts. But he has an 8.02 ERA in seven starts for the Rainiers since his July 3 demotion to the Rainiers.
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