NEIL WALKER

9/10/85; '04 1st; Gibsonia, PA (HS)
S/R; 6-3, 205

Level
BA
OBP
SA
AB
2B
3B
HR
BB
K
SB
CS
2004 HS
.657
  
1.403
67
9
1
13
    
9
  
2004 A-
.303
.333
.394
33
3
0
0
2
1
1
2
2004 R
.271
.313
.427
192
12
3
4
10
33
3
1
2005 A+
.262
.244
.357
42
2
1
0
0
12
0
0
2005 A
.301
.332
.452
485
33
2
12
20
71
7
4
2006 AA
.161
.188
.355
31
0
0
2
1
4
0
0
2006 A+
.284
.345
.409
264
22
1
3
19
41
3
5
2007 AAA
.203
.261
.250
64
3
0
0
2
13
1
1
2007 AA
.288
.362
.462
431
30
3
13
53
73
9
4
2008 AAA
.242
.280
.414
505
25
7
16
29
102
10
6
2009 NL
.194
.275
.222
36
1
0
0
4
11
1
0
2009 AAA
.264
.311
.480
356
31
2
14
26
60
5
2
2009 R
.167
.219
.333
30
2
0
1
1
5
0
1

Their top pick in the 2004 draft, Walker was identified early as a target for the Pirates, given their desperate need for hitting prospects. Regarded at the beginning of his senior year in HS as a likely 2nd round pick, he got better and better, moving up quickly as the draft neared, becoming universally regarded as the best available catcher. The Pirates probably would have selected SS Chris Nelson over Walker, but he was taken before their pick. Walker has the added advantage of being a local product and lifelong Pirate fan, although he was highly rated by Baseball America and others, so he was not simply a hometown pick. He signed just 10 days after the draft for a $1.95M bonus.

Walker struggled initially in the GCL, but began hitting much better late in the season and continued to do so after being promoted to Williamsport at the end of the GCL season. At Hickory in 2005, he had a very solid year for a 19-year-old, good enough to be chosen the SAL's second best prospect. He improved steadily throughout the year, with a good deal of his power coming late. He did OK after being promoted to Lynchburg in time for the playoffs. The one big issue with his hitting was his failure to draw walks—at one point in 2005 he went nearly two months without walking. Walker himself said that he intentionally expands the strike zone because "nobody walks to the majors." This should have created some concern about the quality of the coaching he was getting.

After the 2005 season, Walker hurt his wrist taking a swing in the Arizona Fall League and had to have surgery. At Lynchburg in 2006, he struggled in the aftermath of the surgery. He joined the team in mid-May, but didn't start to hit until July. His power was mostly absent; Walker himself said that he was hitting balls that normally would have been out, but were falling short as the strength wasn't back in his wrist. He did, however, hit a lot of doubles. Once he got going in July he posted an OPS close to .900. Eventually he got his overall numbers up to the point where they weren't that bad for a 20-year-old playing in high A. Walker's walk rate went through an interesting transition: he drew none in over 50 plate appearances in May, but 16 in about 190 plate appearances in June and July. The Pirates promoted him to Altoona in mid-August, to get him some experience in a playoff race and in the post-season. He showed some power there right away, but unfortunately got sidelined with a viral infection. He was probably still weak when he returned and didn't hit at all at the end of the regular season, but he batted .300 in the playoffs.

Walker ran into growing doubts about his defensive ability.  He clearly needed work; for example, he had a high BP total at Hickory.  He also threw out 37% of opposing baserunners there, though, and the Pirates believed his defense improved while he was at Lynchburg.  Just the same, they decided to move him to 3B when he moved up to Altoona because they needed bats in the majors and thought Walker would make it sooner that way.  The switch went reasonably well.  Walker had 25 errors and a .915 fielding percentage at Altoona, but that's not alarming considering that it was his first year at 3B and he was making the transition at a high level of the minors. He showed the ability to make difficult plays, but sometimes misplayed grounders or made bad throws. With the bat he started off slowly, not showing much power early in the season, but he got hot in May, hitting seven HRs, and then posted an OPS over 1.000 in June. Unfortunately, he stopped hitting then, with only one more HR the rest of the season and an OPS just over .600 in July. One significant sign of progress was his walk rate, which remained good throughout his time in AA. He also continued to make good contact. He's been regarded as being a better hitter left-handed, especially in the power department, but he had almost exactly the same numbers from each side in AA, except that he drew more walks hitting right-handed. Despite the slump, the Pirates promoted him to AAA late in the season and he struggled there.

Walker spent all of 2008 in AAA and had a very disappointing season. His plate discipline regressed badly and he never hit with any consistency all year. He hit for good power in the first half of the season, but otherwise did very poorly, with a dismal .267 OBP at the All-Star break. He got his average up a little after that, but stopped hitting for power. He didn't have much of a platoon split. The Pirates have theorized that he's tended to wear down in the past and tried to put a good face on his season by saying that he at least didn't tire out, but it was a bad season by any estimation. He did make progress defensively, cutting down on errors and getting voted the top defensive thirdbaseman in the International League, although those awards are often based on little more than name recognition. The Pirates said he'd get a chance to unseat the disappointing Andy LaRoche at 3B, but he didn't really get a chance to win the job at third in spring training and returned to Indianapolis.

Back in AAA, Walker continued to struggle at the plate, then he missed most of June and half of July with knee problems and a broken finger.  By the end of July he was hitting just .231, but he got hot in August and hit 339/368/578, earning himself a September callup that he probably wouldn't have gotten otherwise.  The timing was also good because, while he was still slumping, Walker foolishly complained that the team's new management wasn't giving opportunities to players drafted under Dave Littlefield.  (He evidently forgot to check with Andrew McCutchen and Steve Pearce, both of whom were starting in the majors at the time.)  John Russell was clearly unenthused about giving Walker opportunities.  Most of his playing time came about because LaRoche got sick.  Why exactly a team going nowhere, and needing to get help from its farm system, wouldn't want to play a guy like Walker is beyond me.  All I can think is that rigid, by-the-book managers like Russell regard it as some  sort of slight to a major league player, even a disappointing, struggling one like LaRoche, to start a September callup over him even a few times.  Russell didn't even have the hackneyed excuse of having to go all out for the benefit of teams in pennant races because the Pirates played almost no games in September that had any potential bearing on any race.

The Pirates will face a tough situation with Walker, because he hasn't really earned a major league job and LaRoche suddenly, and finally, started to hit in September.  There's also the looming spectre of Pedro Alvarez, which means Walker won't even be able to play third at Indianapolis, at least until Alvarez moves up to Pittsburgh.  One solution might be to move LaRoche to second, a possibility to which LaRoche was receptive, but the trade for Akinori Iwamura probably eliminated that possibility.  In all likelihood, Walker is headed back to AAA for another season, although it remains to be seen where he'll play.

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