Taijuan Walker makes first minor league rehab start - MLB

Mariners right-hander Taijuan Walker was forced to begin the season on the disabled list after he fell behind this spring with right shoulder inflammation, but he’s inching closer to joining the big club.

According to Robert Emrich of MiLB.com, Walker struck out seven batters over 4 1/3 innings last night in a minor league rehab start with High-A High Desert. He allowed two runs (one earned) on four hits and one walk and was pulled in the fifth inning after he reached his pitch count at 75. While the Mariners figure to have him make a couple more starts in the minors, he should beat Hisashi Iwakuma back from the disabled list.

Walker made three starts down the stretch last year and was ranked as the No. 11 prospect in the game by Baseball America in February. He possesses top-of-the-rotation potential.

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CINCINNATI — The Los Angeles Dodgers placed pitcher Noah Syndergaard on the 15-day injured list Thursday with a blister on the index finger of his right throwing hand.

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the timetable for Syndergaard’s return is unknown despite the 15-day designation.

“The physical, the mental, the emotional part, as he’s talked about, has taken a toll on him,” Roberts said. “So, the ability to get him away from this. He left today to go back to Los Angeles to kind of get back to normalcy.”

Syndergaard allowed six runs and seven hits in three innings against the Cincinnati Reds on Tuesday night, raising his ERA to 7.16.

Syndergaard (1-4) has surrendered at least five runs in three straight starts.

Syndergaard has been trying to return to the player he was before Tommy John surgery sidelined him for the better part of the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Roberts said Syndergaard will need at least “a few weeks” to both heal and get away from baseball and “reset.”

“I think searching and not being comfortable with where he was at in the moment is certainly evident in performance,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this time away will provide more clarity on who he is right now as a pitcher.

“Trying to perform when you’re searching at this level is extremely difficult. I applaud him from not running from it, but it’s still very difficult. Hopefully it can be a tale of two stories, two halves when he does come back.”