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| Josh Walker - Stock Photo by Herm Card; Herm4444@gmail.com |
Josh Walker. Starting
Pitcher, Bats Left, Throws Left, 6'6" 225 pounds, DOB 12/1/1994. Drafted by the New York Mets in the 37th round of the 2017 MLB June Amateur Draft from University of New Haven (West Haven, CT).
He is eligible for the Major League portion of the Rule 5 Draft (currently postponed by the Lock-Out).
What a season for Josh Walker - after not pitching all but two rehab starts in 2019 and none of 2020 due to the COVID minor league shut down, he started out in Brooklyn, was promoted to AA Binghamton and then was promoted again to AAA Syracuse.
MiLB.com named him as one of the Mets 2021 Organizational All Stars: "The 2017 37th-rounder's basis for success is in his plus control and never was that more evident than during his 2021 ascent through three levels, despite having never played full-season ball...Walker led all qualified Mets pitchers with a 1.02 WHIP over 115 2/3 frames. In fact, that ranked 14th among the 155 pitchers to toss at least 100 frames during the regular season. That came on the strength of a 6.4 percent walk rate, which sat as low as 4.4 percent prior to his jump to Triple-A. The 6-foot-6 southpaw finished with a 3.73 ERA, 98 strikeouts and a .211 average-against in 21 appearances."
His three best starts of the year was a combined no hitter with Andrew Mitchell for Binghamton on June 22nd (6 innings, 1 walk, 4 Ks); July 29th in Syracuse (8 shut out innings, 1 hit, 2 walks, 6 Ks) and August 6th (7 shut out innings, 1 hit, 3 walks, 5 Ks)
Steve Sypa Amazing Avenue: "The tall 6’6”, 225-pound left-hander throws from a three-quarters arm slot with a long arm action through the back. His long limbs add some deception to his pitches, and his slingy delivery helps add some additional movement to them. His fastball sits in the low-90s, generally settling in around 92-93 MPH. He complements the pitch with a curveball and a changeup. His curve has a lot of bend, but its slow, loopy bend makes it hittable. His changeup has good fade, especially down in the zone. Walker is most effective working north-to-south, getting hitters to strike out on his fastball above the zone or one of his secondary pitches below it."
Mets.com has him as the Mets #17 Prospect.
Mack's Mets own Tom Brennan had Josh as his #39 Prospect.
In an interview this last Fall, Brooklyn announcer Keith Raad said this: "I think Josh Walker was a real big surprise. He was with us for about a month before he shot up to double-A and now he’s at triple-A. He’s an amazing kid. He’s one of the nicest guys. 37th rounder out of New Haven. Who? From where? Had a real tough car accident in St. Lucie; it’s a story he’s told many time and he would gladly tell you if you asked him. He got into a bad accident and missed two years almost and he’s been amazingly impressive."
Times-Herald Record: "Walker was ready to make his first start for the Class A St. Lucie Mets of the Florida State League when his vehicle was broadsided by a driver making an illegal turn less than a mile from the team’s facility in April 2019...Walker’s pitching arm took the brunt of the collision...Tests revealed a nerve popping over Walker’s bone and shooting pain to his forearm...Surgery ended Walker’s 2019 season with only six innings (two rehab starts) pitched."
Josh grew up in Upstate NY, Orange County, Otisville. As Tom noted when he was drafted in 2017 - a Yankee Fan.
I think Josh will start the year in Syracuse where the rotation could be a vast improvement from recent years. Should an injury occur in Flushing, Josh and the other pitchers will be ready to provide assistance. 2022 could be the year that Josh makes his MLB debut. He may even face his old favorite team.
Here is Josh Walker’s FANGRAPHS page.
Here is Josh Walker’s Baseball Savant page.
Standard Pitching -
2021 Pitching Splits -
For all of Jacob’s pregame interviews go here.
Struck. Him. Out! Josh Walker is dealing through 4.0 for the ‘Clones. pic.twitter.com/V6BzdKHyZt
— Brooklyn Cyclones (@BKCyclones) May 22, 2021
NO HITTER SAY WHAAATTTT pic.twitter.com/azxzLVFgcB
— Binghamton Rumble Ponies (@RumblePoniesBB) June 23, 2021
.@SyracuseMets lefty Josh Walker with some nasty stuff. 🤧 pic.twitter.com/LFaQz6rFLY
— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) July 30, 2021
Josh Walker was sitting ‘em down. 💺 pic.twitter.com/7umjwJwIyM
— Mets Farm Report (@MetsFarmReport) September 18, 2021
6 comments:
Two things:
1) Somehow, I was not aware of that car accident. What a shame, to get screwed out of 2019 and then have 2020 evaporate.
2) I was VERY impressed with Josh's stuff, watching the videos. I frankly did not see any difference between him and David Peterson. Very similar.
Hence, I have him ranked too low at # 39 - he should be ranked n the mid-teens - or higher. I am surprised Fangraphs has him not pitching for the Mets in 2022 (when they list a guy with just 1 inning, that seems to be their thought, if I understand correctly). If he throws like that in 2022, he WILL get real big league pitching time.
Even better is his allowing just 14 HRs in 177 minor league innings - you watch the videos and you can understand why.
Good for Josh - I'm betting 2022 is his year.
Great comments as always Tom.
Couple of additional points - as either Sam Dykstra or Steve Sypa noted, Josh spent the entire 2019-2020 off season rehabbing in St. Lucie - this gave him a great routine that he continued all though the COVID cancellation and probably contributed a lot to his success this year.
Also, he never pitched anywhere near 100 innings in one season before. It is very possible, he grew tired towards the end of the year. 2022 should be a big year for the upstate NY player.
JOHN, THAT MAKES SENSE - AGREED.
Thank you for this profile John. I also agree with Tom and want to add Szapucki’s name into this as all three guys seem to have similar expectations if Szapucki is healthy. Is it possible FanGraphs expects Walker to be drafted in Rule 5?
As we all like feel good stories, and this is another one, Walker’s lack of strikeouts and low BABIP would seem to make his success a possible mirage, so it’s hard to lean on it. However, there may be a team that takes a chance to find out. Look at Kevin Smith who had a similar profile: seems the Orioles like him quite a bit.
Walker could go in the Rule 5 draft but you never know. Seems like he'd be a good gamble for a team. I think a full season at Triple A would do him the most good.
John, I always think of a team like Baltimore. Walker may be at risk.
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