Taijuan Walker has a first-inning problem. What can the Phillies do to solve it?

PHILADELPHIA — Taijuan Walker again ran into first-inning trouble on Saturday afternoon as Diamondbacks leadoff batter Ketel Marte hit a 2-0, 90.6 mph sinker over the wall in right-center field at CItizens Bank Park. Walker followed it with a four-pitch walk. Two batters later, Adrian Del Castillo hit an RBI single.

Arizona went up early with a quick pair of runs, capitalizing on the Phillies’ starter’s biggest weakness.

Walker has now allowed nine runs on 10 hits in the opening frame of his three starts so far this season. He’s given up three homers and walked three batters. The first inning has been a major problem, and the pitcher has yet to find a solution.

“We’ve been trying a few things,” Walker said. “We’re trying to figure it out. Just haven’t gotten it yet.”

To his credit, the right-hander was effective once he got past the first inning. He settled in and allowed just those two runs across five innings in a 4-3 Phillies win. But he still has a 7.36 ERA at this point, with the vast majority of the damage coming in the first inning.

Walker said he’s tried increasing his intensity and simulating at-bats while warming up in the bullpen before his starts in an effort to reach a game-like adrenaline level by the time he takes the mound. It hasn’t quite led to better results.

Perhaps it could lead the Phillies to try a more creative option like an opener. Rob Thomson didn’t rule out the possibility of using a member of the bullpen to start for an inning and have Walker follow in his next outing, but the manager did acknowledge that deploying an opener could just be kicking the can down the road.

“He’s still going to have his first inning, even if it’s the second inning,” Thomson said. “So maybe it’s a situation where you simulate a first inning in the bullpen: Get him hot, sit down, throw 15, 20 pitches, then come on out. I don’t know. We’ve got to look at it.”

Does Walker think an opener could help, or would it simply turn his first-inning issues into second-inning struggles?

“I don’t know,” Walker said. “Still trying to figure it out, just the energy level. Just trying to get to where I’m going a little bit quicker.”

Walker is in line to make his next start on Friday against the Braves, and the Phillies will have a rested bullpen to pick an opener from — if they decide to go that route — after an off day on Thursday. Beyond that, there’s no guarantee that Walker will remain in the rotation. Zack Wheeler will pitch in a minor-league rehab start for Double-A Reading on Tuesday and is scheduled to throw for the Fightins again on Sunday. But if Wheeler’s next appearance goes well enough, the Phillies could activate him early.

Once Wheeler returns, Walker could slide into the bullpen as a long reliever, and that move could come soon. But for at least one more start, Walker and the Phillies will need to search for first-inning answers. Even if they can’t find them, the team has faith in the veteran to work around it as he did against the D-backs.

“He competes,” Thomson said. “I’ve said that all along. He gives you everything he’s got.”