Mike Walsh

MIKE WALSH, RIGHT HANDED PITCHER
Born: January 17, 2001
Height: 6’2″
Weight: 195
Bats: Right
Throws: Right
Drafted: 9th Round, 260th Overall, 2022
How Acquired: Draft
College: Yale University
Agent:

WTM’s PLAYER PROFILE
Walsh was one of the Pirates’ many overdrafts on day two of the 2022 draft.  Baseball America ranked him 498th in the draft pool, while MLB.com did not have him in the top 250.  At Yale, Walsh worked only seven innings before his junior season, when he made 11 starts.  He fanned 80 in 65 innings, but otherwise struggled.  He walked 31 and hit an alarming 24, posting an ERA of 5.68.  Walsh throws his fastball 92-93 mph and has a sweeping slider, both with high spin rates that provide the primary source of interest in him.  In the Cape Cod League in summer 2022, Walsh pitched strictly in relief and showed some improvement while striking out 23 in 11.1 IP.  He signed for $18,700 under the slot value of $166,200.

2022
R:  0-0-0, 9.00 ERA, 2.00 WHIP, 1.0 IP, 9.0 BB/9, K/9
A:  0-0-0, 11.57 ERA, 3.00 WHIP, 2.1 IP, 15.4 BB/9, 3.9 K/9

After one inning in the FCL, Walsh got into three games at Bradenton.  He lasted only two and a third innings total because he couldn’t throw strikes.

The Pirates under their current front office have done very poorly in drafting college pitchers, so of course they used most of the 2022 picks on college pitchers.  Walsh will be trying to buck the trend.

CONTRACT INFORMATION
2023: Minor league salary
PLAYER INFORMATION
Signing Bonus: $147,500
MiLB Debut: 2022
MLB Debut:
MiLB FA Eligible: 2028
MLB FA Eligible:
Rule 5 Eligible: 2025
Added to 40-Man:
Options Remaining: 3
MLB Service Time: 0.000
TRANSACTIONS
July 18, 2022: Drafted by the Pittsburgh Pirates in the 9th round, 260th overall pick; signed on July 24.