Rob Thomson not at fault for pitching Taijuan Walker

There is no argument that it has been a rough season for Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Taijuan Walker this year.

The argument that can be had is who should get the blame for him continuing to take the mound every fifth day - manager Rob Thomson or team President Dave Dombrowoski.

Walker had another rough outing, surrendering six runs and 13 hits over his six innings of work in a loss to the Astros.

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"It was a rough day overall, in every aspect," said Phillies manager Rob Thomson after the game.

His previous start against the Royals in Kansas City, wasn't much better, Walker gave up six runs in three innings in a loss to the Royals.

Overall on the season, in 14 games, Walker is 3-6 with a 6.50 ERA and 1.64 WHIP in 70.2 innings pitched.

Fans want him pulled from the rotation and are becoming restless, wondering why Rob Thomson keeps sending him out there. Yesterday Thomson acknowledged that Walker said he would stay in the game to pitch the fifth and sixth to help save the bullpen before the Phillies big series against the Atlanta Braves - an admirable move by the veteran.

The next time they'd need a fifth starter is against the Marlins on Saturday, Sept. 7 in Miami.

So will Walker be making that start?

Thomson was asked if there is a possibility that he starts again this year, to which he answered "we've gotta discuss it."

The answer quite simply is, he has no choice.

This is on Dave Dombrowski.

Until Dombrowski pulls the plug on his free agent mistake, Thomson has no choice but to keep trotting him out there when his turn comes up in the rotation.

Walker signed a four-year, $72 million contract this offseason with the Phillies and needless to say its not working out.

However fans who are critical of Thomson for using Walker are misguided, this one is on Dombrowski.

While Dombrowski has done a good job, he has made mistakes and the this is one.  Signing Walker to eat innings at the back-end of the rotation made sense at the time, but it hasn't worked out.

Now, leaving him in the rotation and making Thomson take the bullet for it, isn't fair.

The Phillies don't have a lot of options right now, Kolby Allard is 11-24 with a 5.92 ERA in 73 career big league games. Tyler Phillips went 4-1 with a 5.60 ERA, 1.22 WHIP in 36 innings, making six starts.

Neither is a great option, but would be something different than Walker.  However Thomson can't use those guys if they aren't here and unless Dombrowski pulls the plug on Walker, Thomson really has no choice.

Thomson was asked if moving Walker to the bullpen was an option, to which he said, "sure." However, Walker has appeared in 212 games in his big league career, four of them have been out of the bullpen.

Thomson has to back his guys, its his job to keep the clubhouse together, but Dombrowski is the one who keeps Walker on the roster and until he makes a change, Thomson really has to use him when ever his turn comes up in the rotation.