Mariners Taijuan Walker to pitch in at least one more rehab outing

Mariners prospect Taijuan Walker (Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports)

Highly touted prospect to throw 85-90 pitches in next outing.

"“Everything went great,” McClendon said. “He was clean. No setbacks. We’ll continue to move forward.”"

That quote, provided by Greg Johns of MLB.com, is from Mariners skipper Lloyd McClendon in regards to Taijuan Walker‘s first minor league rehab start for Single-A High Desert.

After being sidelined during spring training due to shoulder soreness, Walker has slowly been working his way back into form. Last night, he tossed 4.1 innings, struck out seven and walked only one.

As far as Walker’s next assignment, the exact time and place of has yet to be determined. McClendon hopes that Walker can get in the neighborhood of 85-90 pitches in his next start. According to McClendon (via Johns), it is desired that Walker’s next outing come under warm-weather conditions. The club will take the “we’ll see” attitude.

McClendon wasn’t ready to state that Walker’s next outing would be the final rehab outing for the 21-year-old. If Walker feels good after this next outing, all could be set for a return to the team. If there’s a hiccup or two, expect another minor league start to follow.

In the Mariners first three games of this season, all against divisional foe the Los Angeles Angels, they received three quality starts. Adding a Taijuan Walker into the mix of an early, yet pleasantly surprising start from the rotation, should only fuel expectations from M’s fans.