The Phillies are in full damage-control mode, and Taijuan Walker just became the latest piece they threw overboard. They cut Walker on Thursday after he opened 2026 with a 9.13 ERA in 22 2/3 innings, and they did it in the middle of an 8-16 start and an eight-game losing streak that has turned the whole Phillies season sour in a hurry.

Walker isn’t a random ex-Seattle arm hanging on at the edge of a roster. He was a first-round Mariners pick, an electric young pitcher who once felt like a huge piece of the franchise’s future. He ended up playing a big part in the 2016 trade that brought Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger, and Zac Curtis to Seattle while sending Walker and Ketel Marte to Arizona.

That deal still reads like a baseball time capsule where everybody got something, but not everybody got the same thing. Seattle got some strong years and a lot of good memories out of Haniger and useful production from Segura. Arizona eventually watched Marte become the star of the whole thing.…