The Atlanta Braves claimed the monster bat of Adam Walker off waivers today. This is the third time Walker's been claimed off waiver this off season.
The Atlanta Braves claimed the monster bat of Adam Walker off waivers today. This is the third time Walker’s been claimed off waiver this off-season. Please credit photograph by Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports
The Atlanta Braves claimed Adam Walker today but is the thunder in his bat enough to make him fourth outfielder they’ve been searching for all winter.
As Dan told you earlier this afternoon the Braves tried to slip Tuffy Gosewisch through waivers and the Seattle Mariners pounced on him. The Braves responded by grabbing Adam Walker off waivers from Baltimore.
I’ve seen some speculation that Walker is the Braves new fourth outfielder but there’s really no reason to expect him to be that guy. The Braves are the third team to claim him this off-season, there’s a reason players move that much and it isn’t always – and in this case definitely not – that team’s rosters are over flowing with talent.
I guess I should back that up so let’s look at Walker’s history and projected future.
A look back at Adam Walker
The Twins selected Walker in the third round of the 2012 draft because he has genuine power – 30+ home run level power. In 2011 at Jacksonville University he hit .409/.486/.682/1.168 , hit 13 home runs 23 doubles, two triples and stole 14 bases without getting caught.
braves
Tomahawk Take 15hAtlanta Braves Getting Trade Hit on Arodys Vizcaino?
More headlines around FanSided:
16h - Atlanta Braves News: The Morning Chop, UGA to play at SunTrust, Freddie Freeman 2017 MVP?1 d - Will Former Braves Andruw Jones Be Inducted In The Hall Of Fame In 20181 d - Atlanta Braves Announce Non-Roster Spring Training Invitees for 20172d - Atlanta Braves Morning Chop: Top Prospects Getting Ink2d - Atlanta Braves, Spring Fever is Setting In; How I Cope to Fill the VoidMore News at Tomahawk Take
In 2012 he came back to the pack with a .343/.426/.581/1.007 line, 12 homers 14 doubles 42 RBI and 19 stolen bases.
The difference was a result of his BAbip coming back to earth; dropping from .506 in 2011 to .395 in 2012. I don’t know how many college bats have a BAbip over .500 but I’d wager there aren’t many so the fact that he came back to earth shouldn’t have been a surprise or a negative.
In Rookie ball he continued to mash but not unexpectedly his batting average dropped sharply. He finished 2012 with a .250/.310/.496/.805 line, that included 14 homers,seven doubles and four triples in 252 PA. He also stole four bases in four attempts, struck out 76 times and walked just 19.
Moving on up
Walker moved to A ball in 2013 and continued to show off his power. In his 552 PA he slashed .278/.3129/.526/.844 with 27 homers and 109 RBI. He also struck out 115 times and walked just 31; three intentionally.
The 2014 season at high A in the Florida State league was more of the same; a .246/.307/.436/.743 line, 25 homers, 19 doubles and a triple and nine successful steals in 14 attempts.
Although he had two more PA and three more games his batting average reflected a drop in total bases from 267 to 220. Still not bad considering he was a little younger than the average player in league that year but worrying because his strikeouts shot up to 156 while his walks crept up to 44
After the 2014 season Fangraphs posted these numbers on the 20-80 scouting scale.
| Hit | Game Power |
Raw Power |
Speed | Field | Throws | Future Value |
| 20 / 45 | 30 / 55 | 65 / 65 | 45 / 45 | 40 / 45 | 50 / 50+ | 45 |
AA and above – More Ks
The following year Minnesota move him to AA in the Southern League and he continued to hit for big power; 31 homers, 31 doubles, three triples and a .239/.309/.498/.807 line. Of course he did move up a level and some decline should be expected the first year. That said Walker led the league in strikeouts with 195.
That’s a 38.8% K rate and 57 more strikeouts than the next closest player. His 560 PA were the most in the league – only two other players had over 500 – and he walked just 51 times.
Nothing changed when he moved up to AAA last season. In his 531 PA he posted a .243/.305/.479/.784 line with 27 homers, 22 doubles and five triples. He walked just 44 times but struck out a league leading 202 times; 21 more than the second place hitter and 64 more than number three among qualified bats.
What can we expect?
Let’s be clear there’s major thunder in his bat. Milb’s John Wagner made that clear in a post last summer
There’s an old saying about power hitters like Rochester’s Adam Walker: when they hit a ball, it stays hit.
“His power is as much as I’ve seen, and I’ve been doing this for a while; I’ve seen [Mark] McGwire and [Sammy] Sosa,” said Red Wings skipper Mike Quade, who has been a coach or manager since 1985. “I hate calling it ‘light tower power,’ but there’s some truth to that. When he squares a ball up, it’s incredible.”
It seems pretty clear that Walked is an all or nothing bat with a K rate that isn’t playable at the major league level. Just a few day ago Jon Shepard over at Camden Depot discussed how Walker might fit there.
. . . Dan Szymborski was kind enough to give me a sneak peek at Walker’s ZIPS projection. He slashed 222/277/449 with 29 home runs. . .37 walks and 237 strikeouts. If Walker is truly a below average defender, as suggested in scouting reports, then he would be a negative WAR player. . . Walker has a skill set that looks very challenging to succeed. . . (one scout) told me that the only reason why he stays on public top 20 organization lists is because he hits home runs off poor pitchers. . .The second . . called him a 30 player (organizational filler) whose power will probably earn him a couple cups of coffee.. . .there are simply too many holes in the zone. . and advanced AAA arms . . .could work the zone and avoid any contact . . . the profile plays nowhere.
Most players would look at 202 strikeouts, hear coaches telling him to work on his plate discipline and try to change. Walker told Wagner he didn’t see his strikeouts as a problem.
Walker said he will not change his plate approach to limit strikeouts.
“I’m not trying to change who I am just to put the ball in play,” he said. “But sometimes I’ve been trying to do too much, trying to hit a ball 600 feet when what I should do is try to put the barrel on it. If I barrel a pitch up, usually good stuff happens.”
I don’t think there’s much to add to that.
That’s a Wrap
Walker is depth that should give Gwinnett fans something to oooo and aah about. Defensively he has a weak arm and according to Baseball America’s 2015 scouting report ($) “. . .After playing mostly first base in college, Walker’s mechanical issues threaten to make him a defensive liability even in left field. . .” I’m not sure a team that relies on defense and getting on base has a spot for a guy like Walker. Besides, shouldn’t Kemp’s backup be a better glove than Kemp?
I suspect we are still likely to see the Braves sign a veteran major league outfielder type for the bench. Someone like Jeff Francoeur or Chris Coghlan perhaps or even Angel Pagan.
I don’t want to be daddy-downer about Walker. I want the young man to succeed and perhaps being passed to three teams in under three months will be the wake-up call he needs. Adding Frenchy might actually help Walker understand he needs to change.
Frenchy knows what happens when you are too hard-headed to listen to your pitching coaches and has a way of talking to younger players. All he has to say is, look what happened to me. The question is, would Walker be willing to listen?
More from Tomahawk Take
This article originally appeared on 
