ANDREW WALKER
1/22/86; '07 5th; Texas Christian Univ.
R/R; 6-0, 210
| Level |
BA |
OBP |
SA |
AB |
2B |
3B |
HR |
BB |
K |
SB |
CS |
| 2005 NCAA |
.310 |
.376 |
.580 |
174 |
10 |
2 |
11 |
16 |
52 |
0 |
0 |
| 2006
NCAA |
.304 |
.384 |
.515 |
204 |
14 |
1 |
9 |
22 |
44 |
1 |
1 |
| 2007 NCAA |
.328 |
.399 |
.585 |
229 |
21 |
1 |
12 |
21 |
31 |
2 |
4 |
| 2007
A- |
.317 |
.390 |
.441 |
161 |
12 |
1 |
2 |
18 |
36 |
1 |
1 |
| 2008 A |
.256 |
.284 |
.384 |
210 |
7 |
0 |
7 |
9 |
50 |
0 |
0 |
| 2009
A |
.211 |
.333 |
.325 |
114 |
8 |
1 |
1 |
20 |
28 |
0 |
1 |
| 2009 R |
.253 |
.392 |
.519 |
79 |
10 |
1 |
3 |
11 |
20 |
0 |
2 |
Walker was considered a solid all-around catcher when the Pirates drafted him. He hit for good power in college but not as much for average, and his plate discipline wasn't good until his junior year. According to MLB.com, scouts had doubts about how well he'd hit if he reached the majors. Baseball America expected him to go between rounds 7 and 10, which means that probably all of the Pirates' top five picks were overdrafts. The Pirates' selection of Walker may have been influenced by the disappearance of their catching depth. After seemingly being loaded with catchers for years, at the time of the draft they were down to just two on the 40-man roster, with no prospects in the system. Walker signed in late June and served as the regular catcher at State College, except for a short stretch after he was injured in a home plate collision. He had a good season with the bat, hitting for average and doubles power, with passable plate discipline. He came on strong at the end of the season, posting an OPS of 1.016 and getting ten of his fifteen extra-base hits in the last month. He had a big platoon split of 357/426/548 against LHPs and 303/378/403 against RHPs.
Walker injured his ankle in spring training in 2008 and, unfortunately, the injury seems to have affected him ever since. He tried to play through it, taking over as the regular catcher at Hickory early in the season. He even got off to a good start offensively, hitting 286/333/548 in April, then slumped badly in May, posting a measly .484 OPS. He recovered in June, hitting 320/342/480, then went 3-for-25 in July. His problems may well have been injury-related. I saw two of his final games and he was badly hobbled when running. It was puzzling at the time that he was even on the field. As it turned out, he played in just one more game, a week later, and then missed the rest of the season with ankle problems.
Walker still didn't seem to be running normally in spring training, but he opened 2009 back in low A as the regular catcher and struggled consistently. His plate discipline was much improved, but he didn't hit at all. He eventually went out with, according to my understanding, the same ankle problem. When he returned in late July, Tony Sanchez was entrenched at West Virginia, so the Pirates just left Walker rehabbing in the GCL for the rest of the year. He split his time in the GCL between catching and DH. His hitting seemed to recover some after a slow start, although of course he was facing rookie-level pitching.
If Walker could get healthy, he has some potential. He has good raw power and showed the ability to hit for average in his first year. After the 2007 season, the Pirates said his defense was better than anticipated. They still considered his arm below-average, but his CS rate in 2008 was 30%, which was far better than the team's other catchers. In 2009 he threw out 21% at West Virginia and 38% in the GCL. State College didn't have a catching prospect in 2009, so the catching job in low A should be available to Walker once again in 2010 unless the Pirates move Ramon Cabrera up to that level.
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