Walker weighing whether to undergo foot surgery

SEATTLE — For Taijuan Walker, the just-completed season was a tale of the good, the bad and the painful. Which is why the 24-year-old right-hander will be consulting with Mariners doctor Ed Khalfayan on Tuesday to determine whether to have surgery on his right foot.

This year’s roller-coaster ride wasn’t all about Walker’s foot. He reworked his throwing mechanics late in the season and saw some dramatic improvement. But he also dealt with a nagging case of tendinitis in his right arch that led Dr. Robert Anderson, a specialist in North Carolina, to suggest it might help to shave down a bone that is slightly too long in his foot and could be causing some of that issue.

The Mariners would certainly like to get Walker right because when he was on this year, he looked like a potential No. 1 or 2 starter. In his first four games in April, Walker went 2-0 with a 1.44 ERA. And in his last five starts after redoing his mechanics with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr., he was 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA.

Combine that start and finish, and Walker was 6-1 with a 2.26 ERA and 55 strikeouts with 16 walks in 55 2/3 innings over nine outings.

But the 16 starts in the middle of his season? Not so good, as Walker was 2-10 with a 5.61 ERA with 64 strikeouts and 21 walks in 78 2/3 innings.

“Taijuan was all over the board,” manager Scott Servais acknowledged. “I think he’s learned a lot, but he’s a guy that certainly needs to work on things. We need …

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