Phillies Not Fazed By Star Pitcher's Criticism

When the Philadelphia Phillies were eliminated from the postseason in surprising fashion, there was an array of emotions from everyone involved with the situation.

Losing late in the playoffs for two consecutives years will do that to a team.

Taijuan Walker was brought in last offseason to prevent this from happening. The only issue was he didn't play at all in the postseason.

This prompted him to send out a cryptic social media post and like some others that were critical of Rob Thomson and the Phillies.

It was surprising that Walker didn't see any game action in the playoffs.

He finished the regular season with a 15-8 record and a 4.38 ERA after signing a four-year, $72 million contract with Philadelphia in free agency.

Thomson is aware of what took place on social media, but doesn't think it will impact things moving forward.

"People get emotional. He's a competitive guy. I love Taijuan, I really do. This guy gave us 15 wins. Every time he goes out to the mound, he competes until we take him out and then he never wants to come out. I want a guy like that. That type of thing doesn't bother me. I love him, I love his demeanor, I love his toughness. I'm sure everything will be fine," he said.

Those comments might raise more questions about why the star signing didn't play more if he's viewed so favorably.

But president of baseball operations, Dave Dombrowski, shed a bit more light on why Walker didn't have a bigger role.

"Ranger at that time was throwing great, so all of the sudden when you get to the postseason, you're only using three and when you need a fourth, they haven't pitched for a while ... I never get upset when a guy would like to pitch, that's good. And the other thing, he's in a tough spot, it's different in the postseason, he's not a reliever, he takes a long time to warm up, but you need someone who can give you length if you run into extra innings. It's a tough position to be in, somebody's got to do it," he explained.

It seems like a classic case of someone being on the outside looking in and feeling like they can contribute something to their team as they sit there and watch a disappointing collapse.

Walker is under contract for three more seasons and figures to have a major role going forward.

The Phillies don't seem too concerned about what was said on social media, but the question is if this resentment will permeate throughout the pitcher's tenure.