Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Neil Walker was named to the 2010 Topps Rookie team today. Walker becomes the second Pirates' rookie to receive the...
As you probably know, Pirates beat writer Dejan Kovacevic has been taking some heat this week for his Rookie of the Year selections. Dejan left Atlanta Braves right fielder Jason Heyward off his ballot, voting for Buster Posey, Neil Walker and Jose Tabata instead.
Baseball America released their top 20 prospects from the 2010 International League (scouting reports for subscribers here). Pedro Alvarez, Brad Lincoln, and Jose Tabata...
As I predicted in July, Neil Walker's high BABIP eventually fell back to earth. However, a dramatically improved walk rate helped keep him afloat once the hits stopped falling in for him. This bodes well for Walker's future.
By continuing to hit baseballs very hard, Neil Walker has made a case for some Rookie of the Year consideration. When FanHouse baseball writer Ed Price posted some interesting rookie stats on his Twitter feed this afternoon, I thought it might be a good idea to take a closer look at Walker’s chances.
Last night, Nate Rose of Stealing First Base took my recent article regarding Neil Walker and began digging deeper. He went to FanGraphs and took a look at Walker’s plate discipline numbers, wondering whether we should expect his walk rate to improve. Nate noted that Walker does not chase out of the zone all that much, and my interest was piqued.
Neil Walker is having an encouraging 2010 season. He got off to a hot start in Triple-A, hitting .321/.392/.560 in 189 plate appearances. On May 25th, he was promoted to Pittsburgh and soon became the everyday second baseman. The 24-year-old has continued to hit at the major league level, posting a .307/.345/.453 line in his first 194 plate appearances. But just below the surface, there are some underlying concerns.