Seattle Mariners hitters face Taijuan Walker, and came away impressed with the young pitcher. Brendan Ryan broke down the rising star:
“Very fluid, very easy – effortless. The ball comes out hot. He’s got some good tilt on the breaking ball, and I like the changeup. It’s hard to distinguish. It comes out the same slot as the fastball, and it just kind of bleeds down a little bit. If it was going left or right, you could maybe distinguish it closer to him, but it just comes out the same and fades a little bit. Pretty deceptive.“He’s pretty far ahead of the game. The talent’s there, obviously. It’s just fine-tuning it and making sure the control is there, maybe learn a cutter or something. If the control’s there, I’m sure he could compete (in the major leagues) right now. You could tell he’s an athlete, too. I see him taking PFPs (pitchers fielding practice), and I see somebody athletic fielding a ground ball. Sky’s the limit, it looks like.”
Walker has an August birthday, so he’ll play 2012 as a 19-year-old. Ryan is right about the control, as Taijuan’s walks are a little high, but he’s nearly unhittable. In his 103 2/3 minor league innings, he allowed just 71 hits. I’ll take that tradeoff.
As we saw with Felix Hernandez and Michael Pineda, the Mariners aren’t afraid to bring young pitchers up to the majors. If Walker gets some good innings in at AA this season, don’t be surprised to see him in Seattle sometime in 2013.
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