I feel numb. Right now, we don't know what exactly this is, but we all fear the worst. And while fearing the worst, I can't bring myself to feel anything more than nothing. Not anger, not sadness—just nothing. This is awful.
Right now, just a 45 minute drive south, Taijuan Walker is probably sitting in Tacoma's clubhouse feeling something else—a little angry, and probably even more scared.
After overcoming what had been called just "bursitis," and making two rehab starts, Taijuan Walker has been pulled from his scheduled and heavily-promoted start down in Tacoma.
Shannon Drayer shared the news first:
Taijuan Walker has been scratched from his start in Tacoma. Has stiffness in shoulder and could not get loose. #Mariners.
— Shannon Drayer (@shannondrayer) April 15, 2014
Rainiers broadcaster has the most detail, which is still not much:
Walker was not throwing. He didn't feel right in pre-start stretching, etc, in the training room. Any further info will come from Mariners.
— Mike Curto (@CurtoWorld) April 16, 2014
It's hard to say if that's better or worse. Walker hurt enough that he could tell before even throwing that things weren't right. Then again, maybe he was being extra cautious and held back before he could do any serious damage.
Word is that Walker will be re-evaluated tomorrow, and the organization will take things from there.
It's easy to be hopeful—or maybe it's easy to be in denial. This is Taijuan Walker we're talking about, long the Mariners best prospect. We already watched Hultzen go down, and though Paxton has been beyond impressive during his time in the bigs, he's hurting now too. But we always had Walker in the deck, only barely slowed by simple bursitis. I mean, Felix had bursitis too, and he was fine.
The thing is, we've heard this "couldn't get loose" bit before.
I'm told Danny Hultzen had trouble getting loose, and his scratch was precautionary.
— Larry Stone (@StoneLarry) April 26, 2013
Again, it's impossible not to fear the worst.