Prior to today’s game against the San Diego Padres, the Phillies returned right-handed pitcher Taijuan Walker from his rehab assignment with triple-A Lehigh Valley and reinstated him from the 15-day injured list. To make room for him on the 26-man roster, right-handed pitcher Ricardo Pinto was designated for assignment.

Phillies President of Baseball Operations Dave Dombrowski made the announcement.

Walker, 31, opened the season on the injured list with right shoulder soreness and made three starts while on a rehab assignment with single-A Clearwater and Lehigh Valley. Between one start with Clearwater and two with Lehigh Valley, Walker went 1-0 with a 4.20 ERA (7 ER, 15.0 IP) as he held the 64 batters he faced to a .240/.313/.345 slash line (.658 OPS).

Last season, Walker started 31 games for the Phillies and went 15-6 with a 4.38 ERA with 84 earned runs allowed in 172.2 innings of work. His 15 wins were tied for fourth most in the National League and the Phillies went 21-10 in his 31 starts (.667 win %). Originally selected by the Seattle Mariners in the first round (43^rd overall) of the 2010 MLB Draft, Walker reached 10 years of major league service time this past Friday.

Pinto, 30, allowed 13 runs in six games (10.2 IP) for the Phillies after his contract was selected on April 2. He was originally signed by the Phillies as an amateur free agent in 2011.