The Brewers will return Rule 5 pick Colin Walsh to the Athletics, reports Jane Lee of MLB.com (Twitter link). Walsh, whom the Brewers designated for assignment on Tuesday, will head to Triple-A Nashville.
Prior to his designation, the 26-year-old Walsh picked up just four hits over his first 63 career major league plate appearances. The infielder/outfielder drew an impressive 15 walks, but he also struck out 22 times – good for a bloated 34.9 percent rate. Walsh has been far more successful in the minors, having hit .278/.395/.422 in nearly 2,500 trips to the plate. He was particularly effective last season in a the Double-A level slashing .302/.447/.470 with 13 home runs and 17 steals in 134 games.
Walsh’s 2015 showing helped lead the Brewers to select him in December, but his weak big league output brought their union to an end. The rest of the league had an opportunity to acquire Walsh after Milwaukee designated him, but nobody bit and he’ll now return to the A’s.
Drawing 15 walks is not impressive. All it is is literally standing there doing nothing. A statue could have drawn the exact same 15 walks. It does help the team and it looks pretty on the stat sheet, but it is not exactly an impressive feat.
Well considering Joey Votto led the league with a 20% BB% last year I think a 33% figure is a little impressive.
Getting walks is about having a good eye, not about just deciding not to swing. Otherwise everyone would have a 30+ walk percentage.
It was not impressive and it was mainly because he didn’t swing. His approach was easily the worst I had ever seen at the MLB level. He literally went up there and watched till he had two strikes. Then he had a defensive swing which mostly consisted of foul balls straight back. His high walk rate was due to looking for walks and not trying to put the ball in play. It was painful to watch .
Walsh was in Double-A, Midland, last season not Nashville.
Thanks for correcting that. Bad error on my part. I apologize.
This guy was a SABR darling. It’s sad that obp has become so prominent in making personnel decisions and batting average has been deemed overrated. Yes, the ability to get on base via walk is a good trait to have, but you still need to make consistent contact to do damage at the plate. Walsh, like many players these days, is better than you and me, but he isn’t a major league player.
The reason OBP became popular amongst teams is because you can’t score if you aren’t on base. Average, while nice, only tells part of the story. The guy will get another shot, just not in Milwaukee.