![]() He knows that he's tempted by balls low in the zone, because that's his sweet spot, but he also knows that this is where pitchers will try to challenge him. Going back to Reusse's article, Walker understands his challenges. His power is so prodigious that it overwhelms strikeout rates, pedestrian batting averages, and some very "meh" on-base averages. ![]() No matter how we look at it, in spite of the massive red flags in Walker's game (perhaps just red flag, singular, since it's just contact we're really worried about) he's continued to produce offense at a rate worthy of a middle-of-the-batting-order hitter. By the measure of wRC+, which measures a hitter's run creation versus the league average, Walker has strung together marks of 118, 130, 111, and 125. Since wOBA is on the same scale as OBP, you'll understand that those numbers are excellent. 367 in his four years in the Minnesota system. Indeed, in spite of lackluster batting averages and less than impressive on-base numbers, the right-handed slugger has posted wOBA marks of. He collected 65 extra-base hits in 2015, and the next-closest player in that category was.oh hey, another Twins prospect - Max Kepler with 54.įanGraphs presents additional data, telling us how Walker performed versus the rest of his league. Yes, his home run and strikeout totals led the Southern League, but his 31 doubles was good enough for sixth. 254 career hitter in the minor leagues, Walker derives immense value by being an extra-base hits machine. He doesn't walk often enough to be considered an Adam Dunn-esque " Three True Outcomes" type of player but the draw is clear. That's a lot of home runs and, yes, a lot of strikeouts. He hit well enough in Double-A to earn a promotion to Triple-A this season, whether from Day One or a few weeks into the summer, and he's now a member of the 40-man roster. Long known to be of massive power potential and massive strikeout totals, Walker has been promoted to the point where he's just one phone call away from the Major Leagues. So Patrick Reusse reminded us on Friday in an article discussing one of the Twins' most enigmatic prospects. In September of 2015, somebody asked Double-A Chattanooga manager Doug Mientkiewicz whose "best shot" goes further: Miguel Sano, or Adam Brett Walker? Mientkiewicz praised a number of Sano's traits before answering: "But best shot? Walker's goes farther."
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