Walker might enter the Phillies lineup again. On Sunday, Suarez made progress.

LOS ANGELES This weekend, Taijuan Walker might return, and Ranger Suarez might follow suit. Suarez (lower back spasms) threw 20 to 25 pitches in a Monday afternoon bullpen session at Dodger Stadium in the intense heat. Though he is headed in the right direction, he won’t be returning on the Phillies’ road trip. “(He feels) a lot better, a lot better,” Rob Thomson, the manager, stated. “We would have done a touch-and-feel (throwing session) yesterday if he was kind of in the same place or not getting better. However, we moved it to today since he was feeling much better, and there is greater intensity in a real bullpen.”

Since his absence on July 22, Suarez has missed two starts. This week, when the position opens up once more to start a four-game series in Arizona, he will miss another. Either Kolby Allard or a right-handed opener will get the start. On Saturday in Seattle, the Phillies employed Orion Kerkering in front of Allard. Walker should be back in the Phillies’ lineup on Sunday when they play the Diamondbacks. He will make his second rehab start Tuesday night with Triple A Lehigh Valley and is slated to throw 60-to-65 pitches. If he were to return on Sunday, that would put him in line for about 80 pitches.

Thomson stated, “His last start saw him reach a velocity of up to 93.” “Hopefully he can maintain that because if he’s 93, and the split was really good … it’s a good sign.” Before going on the injured list on June 23 due to a blister, Walker’s fastball was clocking in between 90 and 91 mph, and the Phillies would be overjoyed if those two developments carried over to the major leagues. Against the split, his opponents were 25 for 60 (.417) with three home runs and seven doubles, as opposed to.210 the previous season.