Drayer: Walker impresses in Mariners intrasquad action as he nears spring debut

The game wasn’t in the Cactus League and the opponents were wearing the same Mariners jersey he was, but Taijuan Walker got the most out of his intrasquad B game appearance Wednesday morning in Peoria, throwing 2 innings plus one batter, giving up no hits, no walks and striking out two. He threw 31 pitches, 21 for strikes.

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“It was good finally having fielders behind me and a real ump,” said Walker, who has been limited to bullpens and live batting practices as the Mariners look to bring him along slowly has he prepares for his first season post Tommy John Surgery. “And it was definitely much better than my last one.”

Reports on Walker’s last throwing session were not worrisome, but not particularly good either. According to manager Scott Servais, his final 10 pitches that day showed improvement and he needed to get into a “real game.” That did not happen as the Angels were the opponent on his scheduled day to pitch and the Mariners preferred to not give them an early look at the right-hander. The intrasquad B game was scheduled instead and while it was on the small field with maybe 40 fans in attendance, as you can see in the video clip, Walker had no trouble turning up the intensity.

Taijuan Walker looking good in the intrasquad B game. Up to 94 on the FB, curveball especially good. He’s looking forward to making Cactus League debut. #Mariners pic.twitter.com/PY5ypE6fR9

— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) March 4, 2020

Walker’s fastball was clocked at 92-94 mph and his curveball was especially sharp. The slider, while he didn’t throw it for strikes, was not bad. Having teammates as opponents helped in his evaluation of that pitch.

“I’m glad Dee (Gordon) was there,” he said. “I got to ask him why he didn’t swing on a slider but it was just because it started too much inside. But the curveball was really good. I didn’t plan for that to be the putout pitch today but it was working real good.”

Walker was also working noticeably quicker than what we have seen before and it turns out that has been an area of focus.

“I’ve been all over the place the last three bullpens trying to find the right tempo,” he said. “I felt in the bullpen today it was really good and I wanted to mimic that on the mound because a lot of times we speed up, you get bigger, try to do too much. I was really happy with that.”

A lot to be happy with in the short session, but one of the biggest takeaways in watching Walker is there is no hesitation to let the ball go. He did not look like a pitcher who has thrown just 1 inning in a game that counts since Tommy John surgery.

“Finally,” he said. “I feel like I can be aggressive now especially when I step out there I feel good. I just let it loose, I don’t have any worries in my head about my elbow or shoulder. It makes it a lot easier to pitch, it makes it more fun.”

Mariners note

• Walker’s “opponent” was Logan Gilbert who also was impressive. His final line: two innings, one hit, one walk and four strikeouts in eight batters faced. He threw 39 pitches, 22 for strikes. As we saw in his Cactus League start, he wasn’t shy about starting hitters with his breaking ball. One strikeout came on a ridiculously nasty slider.

Follow 710 ESPN Seattle’s Shannon Drayer on Twitter.

More from Shannon’s Get To Know Your Mariners series

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• Cal Raleigh has been on the baseball path since Day 1
• OF Jake Fraley could be the gem of Zunino trade
• If anyone can relate to top Mariners prospects, it’s Taijuan Walker
• Julio Rodriguez looks the part of future superstar on and off the field

Follow @shannondrayer