Taijuan Walker placed on injured list with shoulder bursitis

Following his shorted outing in yesterday’s game, Taijuan Walker is being placed on the injured list with shoulder bursitis. While Walker himself indicated earlier in the day that the injury is not serious, it is apparently serious enough to force him to miss multiple starts, as he will evidently need to spend time resting and building back up his pitch count before being ready to start another big league game. He is being replaced on the active roster by Edwin Díaz, who is being activated from the bereavement list.

The Mets will now need to find a temporary replacement for Walker in the rotation. The obvious candidate would seem to be David Peterson, who pitched well for the Mets after coming on in relief for Walker in yesterday’s game, but Buck Showalter would not commit to going with the young lefty. Regardless of who ultimately gets the nod, there is no question that the Mets’ starting pitching depth has taken a hit in recent weeks, with Jacob deGrom’s injury also thrusting Tylor Megill back into the rotation. The team will need its current starters to remain both productive and healthy while waiting for deGrom and Walker to return.