Diamondbacks’ Taijuan Walker should have our attention

It doesn’t feel right to throw all kinds of expectations at Taijuan Walker because he has joined a rotation that didn’t weather the hype very well last season.

But you stand next to him, and you listen to him, and you watch him pitch and you wonder if something special might happen here.

In his first three outings, the Diamondbacks right-hander allowed three hits in nine scoreless innings, striking out 13 and walking one. Through four innings against the Chicago Cubs Wednesday night, he had eight strikeouts and allowed three runs in four innings against a lineup that included six Cubs regulars.

He has looked healthy and confident and has thrown a steady stream of first-pitch strikes.

Of course, Diamondbacks fans know better than anyone that Salt River Fields was a bed of fool’s gold last season. The team had the second-best record in the major leagues after the spring and the second-worst in the National League after the regular season. The pitching staff had the game’s highest ERA.

Walker hopes to help change that.

“He’s having a hell of a spring,” Shelby Miller said. “He’s a great person, great dude, great teammate.”

Genuine affection for the 24-year-old exists in the clubhouse, and the feeling is mutual. It’s not easy being traded from the only organization you know, as the former first-round pick was when the Seattle Mariners sent him and shortstop Ketel Marte to the Diamondbacks for Jean Segura, Mitch Haniger and Zac Curtis in November.

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Immediately, the text messages came from his new teammates.

“I told him, ‘I’m David Peralta. Congratulations. You’re part of our team, we’re a big family and I’m glad you’re part of it,’” the outfielder said.

Similar sentiments came from Miller.

“I know what it can be like coming into a new clubhouse, having been traded a couple times,” Miller said. “At first it’s always really hard.”

It meant a lot to Walker, who admitted the deal “was shocking.”

“A couple of days went by and everything started to calm down and it felt good,” he said. “I got here and it felt so normal. Everybody was so welcoming.”

With his easy smile, it’s clear why players gravitate to Walker. It’s more than that, of course. It’s the fastball in the mid-90s, the slider, the change-up. It’s his stature on the mound, and frankly, in the room. He is a 6-foot-4, 235-pound bundle of presence. He’s hard to miss.

The confidence comes from an ankle injury that is no longer a story line. In November, he had surgery to remove 10 bone spurs, one that he told reporters was three-quarters of an inch long and rubbing against his Achilles’ tendon. Last season when he was pitching, he couldn’t push off with his leg and relied on his upper body.

It likely contributed to an 8-11 record and 4.22 ERA, following an 11-8, 157-strikeout performance in 2015.

The Diamondbacks, led by new General Manager Mike Hazen’s first big move, firmly believe Walker still has great upside.

Because of the expectations that came with the player being drafted 43rd overall right out of Yucaipa (California) High School, surely the Mariners expected more from him. But they are also in a win-now mode and they wanted Segura, whom General Manager Jerry Dipoto praised for having a rare combination of contact, power and speed. They also felt Haniger was a high-ceiling and under-appreciated prospect.

It is a deal that could end up working for both sides.

As Walker walked onto the field at Mesa’s Sloan Park on Wednesday, with a towel around his neck and his frame dwarfing the teammate and coach next to him, the Diamondbacks posted a video on Twitter and described it as a “heavyweight fighter heading into the ring.”

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It was an appropriate description of a player that had Miller marveling at his commitment to his body and training room.

A soft side of Walker is present, too, one that likes to golf and watch movies, one that is close with his family, especially his mother.

He carries himself like someone with perspective.

In 2012, Nellie Garcia learned she had breast cancer, a diagnosis that came later than she wished because she lacked health insurance. It was a tough time for Walker, who watched the woman who raised four children on her own struggle. She is in remission and Wednesday was at Sloan Park watching her son.

She likes what she is seeing this spring, although she is the first to admit she is hard on her son. Walker will say the same.

He is having a fun time. Last week, he struck out his old high school teammate, Matt Davidson of the Chicago White Sox.

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He mused on Twitter recently to never get in a car or golf cart with teammate Archie Bradley and shared a hashtag that said “never been more scared.”

Walker’s goal this season: “Just to be healthy and feel good and work on my mechanics and work on being consistent.”

It’s a simple goal and one that appeals to a Diamondbacks team that sports a clubhouse that looks like it can get something done this season.

Ultimately, it will be up to a starting rotation that can deliver.

Walker believes it can.

Reach Paola Boivin at [email protected] and on Twitter at Twitter.com/PaolaBoivin. Listen to her streaming live on “The Brad Cesmat Show” on sports360az.com every Monday at 10:30 a.m.