Phillies manager makes feelings clear on Jesus Luzardo; reveals major Taijuan Walker update

The Philadelphia Phillies have made Jesus Luzardo their biggest acquisition of the off-season thus far. The left-hander was brought in from the Miami Marlins along with catcher Paul McIntosh in exchange for minor league prospects Emaarion Boyd and Sterlyn Caba.

Phillies manager Rob Thomson believes the addition of Jesus Luzardo provides tremendous depth to their starting rotation, but they will need to manage his workload well to get the most out of his abilities. He also expects right-hander Taijuan Walker to make a positive comeback after a poor season, as the team is likely to move to a six-man rotation towards the back end of the season.

Rob Thomson was guest on The Phillies Show podcast on Friday. He gave his insight on the acquisition of Jesus Luzardo during the show. [7:00 - 12:47]

"We need to keep him healthy; it's a big arm," Thomson said. "Just watching him from afar and across the diamond, this guy's got big stuff. I know he's got the makeup to pitch in Philadelphia, and that's a big deal. He's tough, and he's aggressive. He goes after people, and he's not afraid. He was a big pick up and he you know he really gives us a lot of depth.

"I hope that Taijuan really benefits from this program. I've talked to him a couple of times during the course of this off-season. The body feels really good. The arm feels really good," he added.

Taijuan Walker made 19 appearances in total last season, including 15 as a starter. He pitched just 83.1 innings and had a 7.10 ERA.

There's a lot of ways to play with it: Rob Thomson on the depth of Phillies starting rotation

Rob Thomson in a press conference with Zack Wheeler (Image Source: IMAGN)

The starting rotation of the Philadelphia Phillies, led by Zack Wheeler, has been one of the best in the MLB for the past few years in terms of depth and durability. Rob Thomson feels he will have some difficulty coaxing the ace to adapt to a six-man rotation, although there is enough flexibility in their staff to allow Wheeler to keep pitching every fifth day.

"That'd be a conversation with Zack and see how he reacts to it," he said. "But with off-days, there are always ways to work around it and see how you might have one of the other guys that needs just one time through the rotation where you can keep him at the back so you can keep on Zack till the fifth day.

"There's a lot of ways to play with it," he added. "But definitely that's a conversation that we'll have to have with Zack."

The Phillies have reached the playoffs in each of the previous three seasons but have fallen agonizingly short of winning the World Series each time.