New York Mets starter Taijuan Walker went from only having one free agent offer to being a first time All-Star. Overall, this proved to be an important year in his career.

The splits on Walker tell two stories. In that first half, he was 7-3 with a 2.66 ERA, 1.056 WHIP, and a 9.0 K/9. His velocity was up to the 95 MPH it was earlier in his career.

At that point, Walker had thrown 94.2 innings. That’s more innings than he had thrown in the shortened 2020 season. It was more than he threw in his injury shortened 2018 and 2019 seasons.

In fact, over that three year span, Walker threw just 67.1 innings. Walker blew well past that in the first half. To that end, his second half stumble should’ve been predictable.

Unfortunately, he did struggle. One of the issues was as he tired, he lost a tick on his velocity, and he got the ball up a bit leading to a home run barrage.

Despite that, Walker showed signs of turning it around here and there. Even with him fighting it, he came up huge a number of times.

He allowed three earned over six against the Philadelphia Phillies. Against, he vaunted Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants lineups, he allowed just seven earned over 18.2 innings.

In that stretch, Walker showed us something important. He showed big game ability. He showed the ability to raise his game when the situation and opponent demanded it. He did it at a point where he was arguably on fumes.

Walker in true dramatic fashion saved his best for last. In his last start of the season, he’d pitch into the eighth inning for the first time all year. In fact, it was his first time doing it since April 27, 2017.

That speaks to how special and important a year this was for Walker. It’s not just that he was an All-Star. It’s that he made it to the finish line, and he had a strong finish.

Walker tied a career high in starts. It was a career high if you treat his picking up a suspended game in the first inning as a start and not a relief appearance.

He threw the second most innings he ever threw with his second highest strikeout total. Some of the peripherals faltered with the second half dip, but that should not mar this season.

Walker re-established himself as a bona fide Major League starter. He showed he can be a top of the rotation type starter. For a team with World Series aspirations, he showed big game ability.

Overall, this was a great year for Walker. It was great not just for what he did accomplish, but perhaps more importantly, for showing what we can do next year.