Fantasy Baseball Prospects: Taijuan Walker

Photo courtesy of Camknows.

Mariners top prospect Taijuan Walker has now made two appearances for the Seattle Mariners with mixed results.

• Start 1, at Houston: 5 innings, 2 hits, 0 earned runs, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts.
• Start 2, at Kansas City: 5 innings, 4 hits, 4 earned runs, 2 walks, 2 strikeouts.

As you can see, the outing Astros made him look like the future star that scouts have projected him to be. He posted a stellar line going five innings, on two hits while walking one. Wednesday’s outing against a better team was a bit more rough, and in neither were his minor league strikeout totals evident.

As with all young pitchers, Taijuan Walker will struggle at times with his location, as he showed on Wednesday against the Royals. The biggest knock against him throughout his pro career has been his command, as Walker has averaged four walks per game in the minor leagues. Which didn’t stop him from posting solid numbers.

He had a 3.61 ERA in 11 starts at AAA Tacoma.

In Double-A Jackson Walker started 14 games at Double-A Jackson and was one of the most dominant pitchers in the Southern League, with a 2.46 ERA and allowing only 58 hits in 84 innings.

Reports out of the Mariners minor league system said that his work ethic matches his tremendous athleticism, which very few MLB players possess. Walker was a two-sport star in high school before he was drafted 43rd overall in the 2010 draft. His throwing motion reminds scouts of taller, much more athletic version of 2006 NL Cy Young Award winner Brandon Webb.

There are several reasons for the Mariners giving him a September audition. The organization wants to get the 21-year-old some experience pitching in Seattle to help him get settled for a probable rotation spot next season. He has a major league ready fastball, which is often clocked between 94-96 mph. He now possesses three secondary pitches to go along with his plus plus fastball to keep hitters off balance.

Walker is still an extremely raw as a young pitcher and doesn’t seem confident enough with his change up and breaking ball to go after hitters, throwing his fastball 65 percent of the time.

His secondary pitches will make him dominant in the future as he continues to log innings. As it stands right now he relies on his fastball too much. Once hitters learn to layoff the fastball and wait for his breaking pitches you will see his success rate drop.

Experience and confidence will make Taijuan Walker a complete major league pitcher. Of course, with his stuff he will show flashes of brilliance at times but you will have to be patient as he matures into a pitcher and not a thrower.

He will be a great option in keeper leagues going forward, but I don’t expect him to be completely dominant if he makes the Mariners rotation next spring. He will need to log around 300 innings and limit his walk totals before he puts everything together and becomes a dominant pitcher. There is no doubt that he will be a top tier pitcher at some point in the next three seasons.