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

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 missed the first couple weeks of 2008 with an ankle injury and then took over as the regular catcher at Hickory.  He got off to a good start offensively, hitting 286/333/548 in April, then slumped badly in May, posting a measly .484 OPS.  His walk and K numbers point to the problem.  He recovered in June, hitting 320/342/480, then went 3-for-25 in July.  His problem at that point may 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.  His strike zone issues are an obvious problem—despite having a good month in June, he had only two walks to go with 15 Ks—but he may just need more time to adjust to pro pitching.  His plate discipline eventually improved in college and was fair in the NYPL.  It's also possible that ankle problems affected him off and on while he was playing.  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.  Hopefully he'll be healthy and make some adjustments in 2009, as the Pirates probably don't have another potential major league catcher below AAA.  Walker could open at either West Virginia or Lynchburg, but should have a good chance of reaching the latter by mid-season in any event.

Return to Catchers