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Josh Walker

Braves Claim Osvaldo Bido, Anthony Molina

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The Braves announced that they have claimed right-hander Osvaldo Bido off waivers from the Athletics and fellow righty Anthony Molina off waivers from the Rockies. There wasn’t any previous indication the players were on the wire but it seems the A’s and Rockies wanted to open roster spots, perhaps for the Rule 5 draft next week, and put these guys out there. Atlanta had one 40-man spot available and opened another by designating left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.

Bido, 30, has shown some promise in the big leagues but is coming off a challenging season. In 2024, he tossed 63 1/3 innings for the A’s over nine starts and seven relief appearances, allowing 3.41 earned runs per nine. His 10% walk rate was a bit high and he seemed to benefit from a .250 batting average on balls in play and 3.8% home run per flyball ratio, but his 24.3% strikeout rate was a solid figure.

For the 2025 season, the A’s moved to a Triple-A park in West Sacramento. The hitter-friendly environment seemed to impact Bido. His BABIP jumped to .315 and 14.7% of his fly balls left the yard. Also, his strikeout rate dropped to 18.7%. Put it all together and his ERA climbed to 5.87. The A’s optioned him to the minors a few times and he had a 5.71 ERA in Triple-A. He exhausted his final option year in the process, which was going to make it harder for him to stay on the roster going forward.

Atlanta will take a flier on him today. If he stays on the roster through the winter, he could compete for a job on the staff in spring training. It’s also possible they put him back on waivers later in the offseason. If he were to clear at some future date, they could keep him in the system as non-roster depth.

Molina, 24 in January, was a Rule 5 pick out of the Rays’ system in November of 2023. He has managed to stick on Colorado’s roster since then but has a ghastly 6.96 ERA in 94 1/3 major league innings. The Rockies have made a number of front office changes in recent months and it appears the new regime is less enamored of Molina, so he has been bumped to the waiver wire.

Atlanta seems to have a fondness for getting pitchers away from Coors Field. They have acquired Rockies pitchers such as Pierce Johnson, Brad Hand and Tyler Kinley in recent years. They also acquired Ryan Rolison from Colorado just last month.

Molina hasn’t had much major league success and doesn’t strike guys out, even in the minors, but he has generally avoided walks and gotten ground balls. He has only given a free pass to 6.3% of batters faced in his minor league career and just 6.6% of major league opponents. He still has a couple of options and can therefore be shuttled between Triple-A and the majors for the foreseeable future.

Walker, 31, was just claimed off waivers last month. He hasn’t yet found major league success, with a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings, but has intriguing minor league numbers. He tossed 131 2/3 innings on the farm from 2022 to 2025 with a 3.90 ERA, 30.5% strikeout rate and grounders on about half the balls in play he allowed. His 11.6%walk rate in that time wasn’t amazing but there’s been enough good stuff to entice teams.

Walker signed with the Blue Jays a year ago, then was acquired by the Phillies and the Orioles during the 2025 season. He exhausted his final option season this year, meaning he’ll now be out of options going forward. The O’s signed him to a guaranteed deal and tried to pass him through waivers but Atlanta claimed him. Atlanta will now have a week to try to trade him or pass him through waivers themselves. The waiver process takes 48 hours, so any trade talks would need to come together in the next five days.

Photo courtesy of Darren Yamashita, Imagn Images

Braves Claim Carson Ragsdale, Josh Walker

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The Braves have claimed left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale off waivers from the Orioles, according to announcements from both clubs. Both pitchers were designated for assignment by Baltimore a week ago. Atlanta’s 40-man roster count goes from 35 to 37.

This is the second time Atlanta has grabbed Ragsdale from the waiver wire. The first came in the middle of September, but the O’s claimed him back about a week later. Ragsdale, 28 in May, just made his major league debut in 2025. He made two appearances for the O’s, allowing eight earned runs in five innings. That is obviously a small and unimpressive sample, so Atlanta is presumably putting more stock in his minor league track record.

Prior to 2025, Ragsdale had been in the Giants’ system. He generally flashed a high-strikeout and high-walk profile. From 2021 to 2024, he logged 267 2/3 minor league innings with a 4.07 earned run average. He struck out 32.1% of batters faced while giving out walks 9.8% of the time.

The Giants put him on their 40-man roster in November of 2024 to keep him out of the Rule 5 draft. His results backed up this year, so they designated him for assignment at the end of July. That led him to Baltimore, Atlanta and then Baltimore again via the waiver wire. He finished 2025 having thrown 89 2/3 Triple-A innings with a 5.22 ERA, 19.5% strikeout rate and 12.2% walk rate.

It obviously wasn’t a good year but Ragsdale is not too far removed from being a notable prospect for the Giants. Going into 2025, Baseball America ranked him #17 in the system while FanGraphs had him at #11. He still has a couple of options, so Atlanta can keep him in Triple-A, either continuing his development as a starter or perhaps moving him to the bullpen.

Walker, 31 in December, is a straightforward lefty reliever. His major league track record isn’t especially long, with 26 appearances scattered over the past three seasons, pitching for the Mets and Blue Jays. He has a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings. His minor league work is intriguing, however. From 2022 to 2025, he tossed 131 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.90 ERA. His 11.6% walk rate was certainly high but he also punched out 30.5% of batters faced in that time with a steady diet of grounders as well.

The southpaw bounced around the league in 2025, going from the Jays to the Phillies via a small trade and then to the Orioles via waivers. He exhausted his final option season along the way and is now out of options.

He still has less than a year of service time but the O’s signed him to a major league deal earlier this month. The salary figures weren’t reported but Walker is presumably going to be paid at a rate nominally above league minimum. The idea of the O’s agreeing to such a deal is that it would theoretically make it more likely that he passes through waivers unclaimed and sticks around as non-roster depth.

Atlanta prevented that from happening in this case. They had multiple open roster spots and used one of them to grab Walker. For now, he gives them another lefty relief option, alongside Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee and others. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Atlanta tries to pass Walker through waivers later, so that they are the ones who get to keep him as a depth option without him taking up a roster spot.

Photo courtesy of Kevin Sousa, Imagn Images

Orioles Announce Several Roster Moves

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The Orioles announced a series of roster tweaks on Thursday. Baltimore has selected right-hander Anthony Nunez to their 40-man roster. Right-hander Shawn Dubin and outfielders Dylan Carlson and Daniel Johnson have been outrighted off the roster. Left-hander Josh Walker and right-hander Carson Ragsdale were designated for assignment. Baltimore claimed outfielder Pedro Leon off waivers from the Astros, while left-hander Jose Castillo was claimed by the Mets.

The team also exercised its club option on right-hander Andrew Kittredge, whom they acquired from the Cubs earlier this week. The Orioles declined their club option on utilityman Jorge Mateo, who is now a free agent. They also announced the signing of outfielder Leody Taveras, a deal that had been reported yesterday. The litany of moves brought Baltimore’s 40-man roster to 40 players.

Nunez came over at the trade deadline in the Cedric Mullins deal, along with fellow pitching prospects Raimon Gómez and Chandler Marsh. The 24-year-old was originally signed as a shortstop by San Diego in 2019. After a pair of uninspiring seasons at the lowest rungs of the minors, he converted to pitching. The Mets signed Nunez in 2024. He tossed 10 innings between the Complex league and Single-A that season. High-A hitters were no match for Nunez in 2025, as he dominated with a 0.63 ERA and a 46.2% strikeout rate over 14 1/3 innings. Nunez moved to Double-A in May and continued to pitch well, recording a 2.10 ERA over 22 outings. After the trade, he pitched a game for Double-A Chesapeake before heading to Triple-A. Nunez held hitters to a .125 batting average while striking them out at a 32.3% clip over 16 games with Norfolk.

Carlson and Johnson cleared waivers and elected free agency. Dubin also made it through waivers and is a minor league free agent. Carlson is the biggest name of the bunch, but it’s been a while since his days as a top prospect for the Cardinals. Since a strong 2021 campaign with St. Louis, he’s steadily declined at the plate. The 27-year-old bottomed out with a 67 wRC+ over 96 games split between the Cardinals and Rays in 2024. Baltimore took a flyer on him, but he scuffled to a .203/.278/.336 slash line across 241 plate appearances. He’ll now be looking for his fourth team in three seasons.

Johnson has spent parts of four MLB seasons with three teams. Baltimore grabbed him off waivers from San Francisco in August. He went 5-for-24 in 17 games with the Orioles. Dubin was also an August waiver claim, coming over from the Astros. He threw eight innings with Baltimore, pitching to a 3.38 ERA.

Walker has bounced around plenty over the last year and a half. The Mets traded him to the Pirates midway through 2024. He signed with Toronto as a minor league free agent last offseason. The Blue Jays traded him to the Phillies at the end of May. After Philadelphia designated him for assignment in August, the Orioles claimed him off waivers. Walker has a 6.59 ERA across 26 big-league appearances over the past three seasons.

Ragsdale and Castillo are no strangers to waiver claims, including moves that involved each other. Baltimore claimed Ragsdale from San Francisco in August, only to toss him back on the waiver pile when they grabbed Castillo. The Orioles claimed Ragsdale again in September, this time from the Braves.

Houston signed Leon in 2021. He reached Triple-A that same season. Leon slashed .299/.372/.514 with Sugar Land in 2024, leading to a brief call-up. He recorded a pair of hits over seven games with the Astros before heading back to Triple-A. An MCL sprain cost Leon the majority of the 2025 campaign. He played just 25 games this past season.

Orioles Sign Josh Walker To Major League Contract

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The Orioles announced that left-hander Josh Walker has been signed to a one-year Major League contract.  Salary terms weren’t announced, but Walker (who was already in Baltimore’s organization) was slated to earn a minimum MLB salary as a pre-arbitration player.

Like recent deals with Rico Garcia and Luis Vazquez, Walker’s new contract is likely meant to give Baltimore a little extra control over their services, and give other teams a little more reason to pause should the O’s designate Walker or the other for assignment over the course of the winter.  A slightly larger salary beyond the big league minimum might deter some clubs, and since Walker is out of minor league options, the Orioles will have to DFA him whenever (or if ever) they want to try and get Walker off the 40-man roster.

Walker has appeared in each of the last three Major League seasons, amassing a 6.59 ERA over 27 1/3 innings with the Mets and Blue Jays.  All three of his 2025 appearances in the Show came with Toronto, and the Jays traded Walker to the Phillies in late May.  The southpaw spent the rest of the year with the Triple-A affiliates of the Phillies and Orioles, as Baltimore claimed Walker off waivers in August.

Walker’s MLB numbers and his 4.39 career ERA over 174 1/3 Triple-A innings are nothing to write home about, but he does have a 25.67% strikeout rate at the Triple-A level.  The Orioles seem to have liked what they saw from Walker during his brief time in the organization, and this new contract gives him a bit of a better chance of winning a bullpen job in Spring Training.

Orioles Claim Josh Walker

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The Orioles have claimed left-hander Josh Walker off waivers from the Phillies, according to announcements from both clubs. The O’s have optioned the southpaw to Triple-A Norfolk. They already had a 40-man vacancy from outrighting outfielder Jordyn Adams a few days ago, so no corresponding move was required. The Phils designated Walker for assignment earlier this week.

Walker, 30, has a limited amount of big league experience. He has thrown a combined 27 1/3 innings over the three most recent seasons. In that time, he has a 6.59 earned run average, which is obviously not strong. His 10.9% walk rate is also a bit high. However, his 24.2% strikeout rate is a good figure. His ERA has seemingly been inflated by a .380 batting average on balls in play and 59.4% strand rate. His 3.99 FIP and 2.70 SIERA paint a more optimistic portrait.

Ultimately, it’s a small sample of work and the O’s are probably putting more stock in his minor league numbers. From 2022 to the present, Walker has thrown 125 innings on the farm with a 3.96 ERA. His 12% walk rate is a bit high but his 30.6% strikeout rate is very intriguing.

For the O’s, they are playing out the string on a lost season, so they are making moves focused on the future. They sold at the deadline and have grabbed a number of players off waivers since then. Walker is in his final option season. That means he can be kept in the minors for the rest of this year but will be out of options going into 2026. He has less than a year of service time, so he is still a ways away from arbitration and even further away from free agency. If he can carve out a role in Baltimore’s bullpen, they can cheaply retain him well into the future. It also wouldn’t a surprise if they try to pass him through waivers at some point in order to keep him as non-roster depth.

Photo courtesy of Vincent Carchietta, Imagn Images

Phillies Designate Josh Walker For Assignment, Activate José Alvarado

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The Phillies announced that left-hander José Alvarado has been reinstated from the restricted list. That move was expected as he had served his 80-game PED suspension. To make make room for him, the Phils optioned right-hander Nolan Hoffman to Triple-A Lehigh Valley and designated left-hander Josh Walker for assignment.

Walker, 30, was acquired from the Jays in exchange for cash back in May. He pitched five innings with Toronto but hasn’t appeared in the majors with Philadelphia. Rather, he’s spent his entire time with the Phillies organization in Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he’s logged 26 innings with a 4.50 ERA, 19.8% strikeout rate and 10.8% walk rate.

A towering 6’6″ left-hander, Walker has appeared in parts of three big league seasons — two with the Mets and earlier this year with the Jays. He’s pitched only 27 1/3 MLB frames, however, and sports a rocky 6.59 ERA in that limited sample of work. He’s fanned nearly one quarter of his opponents and has a sharp 12.4% swinging-strike rate, but command has been a struggle for him both in the majors and in the upper minors. That said, Walker does have a more palatable 4.46 ERA and 26% strikeout rate in 167 2/3 innings of Triple-A work.

Alvarado has been out since May 16 after receiving an 80-game ban following a positive PED test. His absence subtracted one of the Phillies’ top relief arms, and he’ll return to a new-look bullpen that suddenly looks like a powerhouse. In Alvarado’s absence, the Phillies acquired Jhoan Duran from the Twins and signed free agent David Robertson. That pair, combined with Matt Strahm, Orion Kerkering, Tanner Banks and the returning Alvarado, makes the Phillies’ relief corps both exceptionally deep and dangerous for opposing lineups.

In 20 innings prior to his suspension, Alvarado pitched to a 2.70 ERA with a 29.8% strikeout rate and just a 4.8% walk rate. While he had some struggles last year (4.09 ERA), Alvarado has generally been a high-impact bullpen weapon for skipper Rob Thomson for the past several seasons. Dating back to 2022, he’s pitched 174 major league innings and logged a 3.10 ERA, 32% strikeout rate, 10.2% walk rate and 50.5% grounder rate.

Despite being on the restricted list, Alvarado was allowed to pitch in a minor league rehab stint as a tune-up to return to the Philadelphia bullpen. He tossed five shutout innings, albeit with as many walks as strikeouts. Alvarado recorded a huge 62.9% ground-ball rate in that time. His average sinker dipped from 99.3 mph to 98 mph, though that’s not exactly a surprise given the lengthy layoff.

While Alvarado will provide a major boost to the Phillies down the stretch, he’ll be a non-factor when the postseason rolls around. Players who are suspended for PED usage are ruled ineligible for the playoffs during the year in which they served their suspension. Thomson will have Alvarado at his disposal for the next six weeks, but in October, it’ll be Duran, Robertson, Strahm, Banks and Kerkering anchoring the bullpen — perhaps alongside one of the current rotation members, depending on the health and performance of the group between now and late September.

Blue Jays Trade Josh Walker To Phillies

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The Phillies announced the acquisition of lefty reliever Josh Walker from the Blue Jays for cash considerations. Philadelphia has had a free 40-man roster spot since José Alvarado was suspended. They optioned Walker to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, so no additional move was necessary.

Toronto had designated Walker for assignment earlier in the week. An injury to backup catcher Tyler Heineman forced the Jays to select Ali Sánchez to pair with Alejandro Kirk. That required a 40-man roster move and squeezed Walker off the depth chart. The 6’6″ southpaw had been on optional assignment and pitching in Triple-A for most of this month.

Walker had a brief stay on Toronto’s MLB roster earlier in the year. He made three appearances and allowed four runs over five innings. He struck out eight against two walks while relying primarily on a mid-80s curveball. Walker backs up that breaking pitch with both a four-seam and two-seam fastball that typically land in the 93-94 MPH range.

A product of the University of New Haven, Walker entered the professional ranks as a 37th-round draft choice by the Mets in 2017. He overcame that lack of prospect pedigree to get to the majors in 2023. Walker hasn’t had much success against big league hitters, tallying a combined 6.59 earned run average through 27 1/3 frames. He has pitched well up through the Double-A level, though his Triple-A results are more mixed.

Walker carries a 4.45 ERA with an above-average 26.6% strikeout rate over parts of five seasons at the top minor league level. He has struggled there in the early going, giving up eight runs (seven earned) on 13 hits and seven walks through his first 10 innings this season. He has managed 16 strikeouts on only 51 batters faced, however, which is presumably a selling point for Philadelphia.

Matt Strahm and Tanner Banks are each pitching well in Rob Thomson’s bullpen. They were the only two lefty relievers on the 40-man roster. Walker is in his last option year and can bounce between Philadelphia and Lehigh Valley for the remainder of the season.

Blue Jays Select Ali Sanchez, Designate Josh Walker, Place Tyler Heineman On 7-Day IL

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The Blue Jays announced a trio of transactions this morning, including the placement of catcher Tyler Heineman on the seven-day concussion-related injured list.  Catcher Ali Sanchez’s contract was selected from Triple-A to take Heineman’s spot on the active roster, and left-hander Josh Walker was designated for assignment to open up space on the 40-man roster.

Heineman has been an unexpected force at the plate this season, hitting a whopping .396/.412/.542 over 51 plate appearances while acting as Alejandro Kirk’s backup.  That hot start to the season will now be put on hold for at least seven days, as Heineman will get some time to recover after a rough game on Thursday.  During Toronto’s 7-6 win over San Diego, Heineman was visibly shaken up after a pair of foul balls ricocheted off his mask, though he stayed behind the plate and caught 10 of the game’s 11 innings.

With Heineman sidelined, Sanchez will get his first MLB action of the 2025 season, and he’ll make his Blue Jays debut as the starting catcher in today’s game with the Rays.  Thirty-one of his Sanchez’s 38 career Major League games came with the Marlins last season, which marked the backstop’s first taste of the Show since the 2021 season.  His seven previous big league games came with the Mets and Cardinals in 2020-21, and Sanchez has also suited up at the minor league level in the farm systems of the Tigers, Diamondbacks, and Cubs over his 12-year pro career.

Known more for his glovework than his bat, Sanchez has hit .264/.327/.363 over 2588 career PA in the minors, and he has a more solid .253/.324/.440 in 102 PA with Triple-A Buffalo this season.  Sanchez is out of minor league options, so once Heineman is healthy, the Jays will have to designate Sanchez for assignment and have him clear waivers in order to send him back to Buffalo.  The catcher would have the ability to turn down an outright assignment and elect free agency, since Sanchez has been previously outrighted in his career.

Walker was another offseason signing for Toronto, inked to a split contract for an MLB minimum salary prorated over his time on the Blue Jays’ active roster.  His time on the 26-man lasted only a couple of weeks, as Walker had a 7.20 ERA in five innings over three appearances in late April and early May.  That brief amount of work at least made it three straight seasons of Major League work for Walker, who made 24 appearances (22 1/3 innings) with the Mets in 2023-24.

Walker’s 24.2% strikeout rate and 10.9% walk rate during his short amount of time in the majors hint at the overall story of his career, as the southpaw has a 26.83K% and 9.03BB% over his 276 1/3 career innings in the minors.  Both his strikeout and walk numbers have both been rising as Walker has pitched at Triple-A over the last few seasons, with that lack of control undermining his potential at missing bats.  The Jays apparently didn’t see enough to keep Walker on the roster, though another club might well be intrigued enough to put in a waiver claim for some left-handed bullpen depth.

Blue Jays Sign Josh Walker

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The Blue Jays announced that they have signed left-hander Josh Walker to a one-year split contract. Per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com, the southpaw will make $760K, which is next year’s league minimum, for time spent in the majors. The Associated Press reports that he’ll be paid at a $180K rate while in the minors. Right-hander Hagen Danner has been designated for assignment as the corresponding move.

Walker, 30, has a little bit of major league experience. He tossed 22 1/3 innings with the Mets over the past two seasons, allowing 6.45 earned runs per nine in that small sample. He struck out 22.7% of batters faced while giving out walks at an 11.7% clip. He was designated for assignment by the Mets in July and flipped to the Pirates, though the Bucs designated him for assignment shortly thereafter and eventually released him.

Those major league numbers aren’t especially impressive, but the Jays are likely attracted to his minor league work, where he has shown huge strikeout ability but also significant control issues. He has thrown 89 innings on the farm over the past three years with a 3.54 ERA, giving out walks to 12.7% of opponents but also punching them out at a huge 33.7% rate. The Jays were seemingly intrigued enough by those numbers to give Walker a 40-man roster spot.

Remaking the bullpen is an ongoing project for the Jays after the group let them down in 2024. Toronto relievers had a collective 4.82 ERA this year, with only the Rockies posting a worse number in that category. Since the season ended, Génesis Cabrera and Jordan Romano were both cut from the roster and both have signed with other clubs already. The Jays re-signed Yimi García, who they had traded to the Mariners last year, and also acquired Nick Sandlin in the Andrés Giménez trade.

Prior to this deal, the only lefty relievers on the roster were Brendon Little, Brandon Eisert and Easton Lucas. It’s a very inexperienced group, as none of those southpaws has even thrown 50 big league innings yet. Walker adds another lefty into that competition and he still has an option year remaining, as do the other three, so they might take turns moving between the big leagues and Triple-A throughout the year. Walker still has less than a year of service time, so he can be cheaply retained for many years to come if he continues to hang onto his roster spot.

Danner, 26, he was drafted as a catcher but struck out a lot in the lower levels of the minors and got moved to the mound. In 2021, he tossed 35 2/3 innings at High-A with a 2.02 ERA, 29.4% strikeout rate and 8.4% walk rate. That was his first professional season as a pitcher but he was already Rule 5 eligible due to the years he spent behind the plate. The Jays gave him a 40-man roster spot after that season to prevent him from being plucked away.

He has hit a few speed bumps since then. He spent most of 2022 on the injured list and only made four minor league appearances. In 2023, he was healthy enough to throw 28 1/3 Triple-A innings with a 3.81 ERA. His 31.5% strikeout rate and 6.3% walk rate were quite good but he allowed eight home runs. He also made his major league debut that year but only tossed one third of an inning before landing on the injured list due to an oblique strain. In 2024, he logged 34 1/3 innings at the Triple-A level with a 3.15 ERA, 23.3% strikeout rate and 8.9% walk rate.

Overall, the results haven’t been bad, but he hasn’t been able to pitch much due to the time spent catching and the health issues. He has just 114 1/3 professional innings on his ledger thus far and he has just one option year remaining.

DFA limbo normally lasts a week but recent years have seen that clock paused over the period from Christmas to New Year’s. On this date last year, Ryan Jensen was designated for assignment by the Marlins and he wasn’t claimed off waivers by the Twins until January 4, over two weeks later. That will give the Jays some time to see if there’s any trade interest in Danner.

Pirates Re-Sign Josh Walker To Minor League Deal

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The Pirates re-signed left-hander Josh Walker to a minor league deal earlier this week, as noted by Alex Stumpf of MLB.com. Walker was dealt from the Mets to the Pirates at the trade deadline last month but was designated for assignment shortly thereafter. Walker suffered an undisclosed injury shortly after joining the Pirates and, as a result, could not be placed on outright waivers when Pittsburgh designated him for assignment. As such, the club evidently instead released Walker before re-signing him to a minor league deal to clear his spot on the 40-man roster while still retaining him in the organization.

Walker, 29, was picked by the Mets in the 37th round of the 2017 draft. The lefty struggled to stay on the field early in his professional career with just 29 total affiliated appearances from 2017 to 2019, most of which came in relief. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Walker returned to action as a starting pitcher in the minors and rapidly climbed the minor league level but hit a bit of a wall at Triple-A, where he struggled to a 5.19 ERA with a strikeout rate of just 15.8% in nine starts.

Those difficulties as a starter in the upper levels of the minors combined with an injury-marred 2022 season led Walker to move back into a relief role in 2023. He put together a dominant performance at Triple-A that year, posting a sparkling 1.84 ERA in 29 1/3 innings while striking out a fantastic 33.3% of batters faced. That excellent work in the minors was enough to earn Walker his first big league call-up at the age of 28 last year, but the lefty struggled in the majors as he allowed eleven runs, nine of them earned, and walked an elevated 12.5% of batters faced in ten big league innings last year. 2024 was more of the same during his time in the Mets organization, as he struck out 31% of batters faced with a strong 2.84 ERA but walked 10.9% of opponents with a lackluster ERA of 5.10.

Walker seemed likely to get another look in the majors with the Pirates at some point this year but his aforementioned injury seems to have derailed things for him, at least for the time being. With few details available regarding Walker’s injury and his timetable for return it’s unclear when or if he’ll pitch again this season, but with less than a year of service time in the big leagues and one minor league option remaining it’s easy to imagine the lefty being an interesting longer-term piece given his recent success at Triple-A.

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