{"id":295776,"date":"2021-07-10T10:45:28","date_gmt":"2021-07-10T07:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/mets-taijuan-walker-selected-to-all-star-game-for-first-time\/"},"modified":"2021-07-10T10:45:28","modified_gmt":"2021-07-10T07:45:28","slug":"mets-taijuan-walker-selected-to-all-star-game-for-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/mets-taijuan-walker-selected-to-all-star-game-for-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"#Mets’ Taijuan Walker selected to All-Star Game for first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Mets’ Taijuan Walker selected to All-Star Game<\/a> for first time<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

The free agent steal of the offseason is headed to Colorado.<\/p>\n

Taijuan Walker, one of the unheralded linchpins of the first-place Mets, is going to the All-Star Game for the first time as a replacement, manager Luis Rojas said after the team\u2019s 13-4 pasting of the Pirates at Citi Field on Friday night.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s finally starting to come and hit me now,\u201d said the 28-year-old Walker, who earned a $50,000 bonus with the All-Star nod. \u201cEveryone\u2019s texting me, my family\u2019s texting me, so it\u2019s really cool.<\/p>\n

\u201cOnce I got to the big leagues, it\u2019s always been a goal to be an All-Star, to be the best of the best and go out there and compete against the best and be around the best players in the league.\u201d<\/p>\n

After Jacob deGrom was the only Met selected last Sunday for the All-Star Game, several players expressed their disapp<\/a>ointment that Walker had been bypassed. DeGrom had opted not to travel<\/a> for the game, preferring to spend time with his family and rest, and endorsed Walker to be his replacement.<\/p>\n

\"Taijua
Taijua Walker<\/figcaption>
Robert Sabo<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cJake\u2019s the best pitcher in the league right now. For him to come out and publicly say I should be an All-Star, it meant a lot to me,\u201d said Walker, who wanted Marcus Stroman and Edwin Diaz there with him.<\/p>\n

There will be one other Met in Denver with Walker. Pete Alonso will be looking to defend his Home Run Derby title. When asked what he was most looking forward to about the showcase, Walker joked he wanted to see Alonso win the hitting competition again.<\/p>\n

Walker wasn\u2019t at his best Friday night, lasting just five innings. But even without his usual command, the right-hander limited the Pirates to two earned runs and pitched around significant trouble twice.<\/p>\n

With a 2.50 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 90 innings pitched while allowing just 63 hits, Walker has been a godsend for the Mets, the only team to offer him a contract this offseason. He has been steady and effective, allowing two runs or fewer in 12 of his 16 starts. He leads them with four starts of at least seven innings and no more than one earned run allowed, one more than deGrom.<\/p>\n