Walker's demotion Monday to Triple-A Tacoma was in part due to his lack competitiveness, manager Scott Servias said, in addition to poor performance, the Tacoma News Tribune reports.
Apparently, Walker's nagging foot injury, which sent him to the DL for a month, wasn't the problem it was thought to be. Servais said the team is in a position where it can't afford to keep starting a pitcher who has three quality starts in his last 13 outings. But Servais also questioned Walker's competitiveness. "When you're one of five starting pitchers, there's a certain level of expectation," Servais said. "You've got to go deeper in games. You've got to be competitive. ... There are plenty of things for him to work out, but the biggest thing is he needs to continue to compete. When you don't have it on a particular night or you give up some runs early in the game, how do you stay in the game?"