Rank History
| Year | Team | Position | Team Rank | OFP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2021 | TEX | OF | 24 | 40 |
Grades Update: Mar 2021
| OFP | Role | Hit | Power | Field | Arm | Run |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | 40 | 45 | 45 | 50 | 45 | 50 |
Mar 2021 Report
Evaluator: Jake Kerns
Age: 24 yr
Height: 5-11
Weight: 209 lbs
Hits/Throws: L/L
Acquired: 2018 Round 2 (CHA)
RuleV: 2022
Physical Description: Average height. Well-built and physically strong, but he has short levers. Noticeably plays with a lot of emotion.
Hit: Stands slightly crouched and open in the box. Stance appears more upright to begin 2021 spring training. Keeps the bat on his shoulder until he loads. Takes a big step into the pitch and has a wide base at impact. Mostly linear swing, but does have a tendency to swing upward. Produces a lot of fly balls. Has above-average or better bat speed, but shows a tendency to overswing. Has good bat-to-ball skills, primarily because of his hand-eye coordination, but he lacks barrel control and needs to make better contact; creates too many weak flyouts. Shows an average eye at the plate and will take his fair share of walks. Noticeably struggles against lefties, and it shows up in the boxscore. Grade: 45
Power: Has above-average raw power to all fields but in-game power currently plays fringe-average, and it's mostly to the pull side. Creates a good amount of leverage, and there's natural loft off the bat, but he's still mostly getting the ball to the gaps. He gets the ball in the air with regularity; has consistently created more flyouts than groundouts since signing. Grade: 45
Field: Moves well in the grass and has made some difficult plays in the past, but he's mostly average in CF. Has average or slightly better footspeed, but his reads lag behind. Playable in CF, but the total package may fit best in LF. Grade: 50
Arm: Average arm strength but the ball lacks carry. Throws were on target in limited looks. Arm plays in CF but is probably best suited for LF. Grade: 45
Run: Timed 4.18 down the line from the left-side. He's aggressive on the basepaths and could swipe double digit bags because of it. Grade: 50
Overall: Walker physically looks like a big leaguer, but he lacks a carrying tool and is close to average across the board. He does have good hand-eye coordination, and there is some untapped power potential, so there's reason to believe he can improve with the bat and eventually impact a starting lineup. However, he's showing some severe L/R splits, and he may ultimately be relegated to a platoon role when he arrives in the big leagues.
OFP: 40
Role: 40 - Below-Average Player: Bench or Platoon
Risk: Low
