Steele Walker

Steele Walker
Walker with the Round Rock Express in 2022
Outfielder
Born: (1996-07-30) July 30, 1996 (age 28)
Mount Pleasant, Texas, U.S.
Batted: Left
Threw: Left
MLB debut
June 5, 2022, for the Texas Rangers
Last MLB appearance
June 10, 2022, for the Texas Rangers
MLB statistics
Batting average.071
Home runs1
Runs batted in1
Teams

Steele Simons Walker (born July 30, 1996) is an American former professional baseball outfielder. He played college baseball at the University of Oklahoma, and was selected in the second round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Texas Rangers.

Amateur career

Walker attended Prosper High School in Prosper, Texas. He played college baseball at the University of Oklahoma for the Oklahoma Sooners.[1] As a freshman at Oklahoma in 2016, Walker played in 57 games, hitting .290/.352/.414 with three home runs and 32 runs batted in (RBI). After the season, he played for the Wisconsin Woodchucks of the Northwoods League.[2] As a sophomore in 2017, he started 59 games, batting .333/.413/.541 with eight home runs and 51 RBI. After the season, he played for the United States collegiate national team and for the Brewster Whitecaps of the Cape Cod League.[3][4] As a junior in 2018, Walker finished with a .352 batting average with 13 home runs and 53 RBI; a strained right oblique muscle kept him out of the team's final eight games.[5] He was a semi-finalist for the Golden Spikes Award[6] and was named to the All-Big 12 Conference's First Team.[7]

Professional career

Chicago White Sox

Considered one of the top prospects for the 2018 Major League Baseball draft,[8][9] he was selected in the second round, 46th overall by the Chicago White Sox.[10] Walker signed with the White Sox for $2 million[11] and made his professional debut with the AZL White Sox. He was promoted to the Great Falls Voyagers and the Kannapolis Intimidators during the season. In 44 games between the three clubs, Walker hit .209/.271/.342 with five home runs and 21 RBIs.[12]

Walker returned to Kannapolis to begin the 2019 season.[13] In late April, Walker was promoted to the Winston-Salem Dash of the High–A Carolina League after batting .365 in 20 games.[14] On June 14, Steele hit for the cycle.[15] He spent the remainder of the season with the Dash, slashing .269/.346/.426 with ten home runs and 51 RBIs over 100 games.[16][17]

Texas Rangers

On December 11, 2019, Walker was traded to the Texas Rangers in for outfielder Nomar Mazara.[18] Walker did not play in 2020 due to the cancellation of the Minor League Baseball season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Walker opened the 2021 season with the Frisco RoughRiders of the Double-A Central league. He was promoted to the Round Rock Express of the Triple-A West league on August 5.[19] Between the two levels, he hit a combined .241/.308/.400 with 15 home runs (none against left-handers) and 61 RBI.[20] Walker returned to Round Rock to open the 2022 season.[21]

On June 5, 2022, Texas selected Walker's contract to the active roster and promoted him to the major leagues for the first time. He made his MLB debut that day versus the Seattle Mariners.[22] On June 7, Walker hit his first career home run as his first major league hit off of Cal Quantrill of the Cleveland Guardians.[23]

In 14 at bats with the Rangers, he hit .071/.188/.286. On August 4, 2022, Walker was designated for assignment.[24]

In the minor leagues to that point, on defense he had played 147 games in center field, 71 games in right field, and 55 games in left field.[1]

San Francisco Giants

On August 7, 2022, Walker was claimed off waivers by the San Francisco Giants.[25] The Giants assigned him to the Triple-A upon acquiring him.[26] Walker was designated for assignment on August 17. He cleared waivers and was sent outright to the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.[27]

Detroit Tigers

On November 15, 2022, Walker was traded to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations. He split the 2023 season between the rookie–level Florida Complex League Tigers, High–A West Michigan Whitecaps, and Triple–A Toledo Mud Hens. In 28 total games, he accumulated a .202/.288/.317 batting line with 2 home runs and 14 RBI.[28] On July 10, 2023, Walker was released by the Tigers organization.[29]

References

  1. ^ Bruce Campbell (July 24, 2015). "Connie Mack Mustangs' Steele Walker, raised a Longhorn, now a Sooner". Enid News & Eagle.
  2. ^ Tim Johnson (August 8, 2016). "Chucks outfielder chasing historic mark". Wausau Daily Herald.
  3. ^ Tyler Palmateer. "Steele Walker's flair, talent a good combination for Oklahoma". The Norman Transcript.
  4. ^ "Steele Walker". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
  5. ^ Ryan Aber (June 4, 2018). "Oklahoma's Steele Walker picked by the Chicago White Sox in the second round". The Oklahoman.
  6. ^ Tyler Palmateer. "OU baseball: Steele Walker named Golden Spikes Award semifinalist". Pauls Valley Democrat.
  7. ^ "2018 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards Announced". Big 12 Conference. May 22, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  8. ^ "MLB.com 2018 Prospect Watch". MLB.com.
  9. ^ "MLB.com draft projection: Oklahoma's Steele Walker a first-round pick". The Oklahoman. April 30, 2018.
  10. ^ Daryl Van Schouwen (June 4, 2018). "White Sox select Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker in second round". Chicago Sun-Times.
  11. ^ Palmateer, Tyler (June 29, 2018). "Former Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker signs with Chicago White Sox". The Norman Transcript.
  12. ^ "Steele Walker Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
  13. ^ Michael Freer (April 3, 2019). "Intimidators' Man of Steele: Highly touted prospect set to enjoy his time in Kannapolis". Independent Tribune.
  14. ^ "White Sox's Steele Walker: Advances to High-A". CBSSports.com. RotoWire.com. April 30, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
  15. ^ Brian Stultz (June 14, 2019). "Walker hits for the cycle for Dash". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  16. ^ "Hot Stove roundup: The latest trades". MiLB.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  17. ^ James Fegan (August 7, 2019). "'It's not an act': The dichotomy of White Sox prospect Steele Walker". The Athletic. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
  18. ^ "Rangers trade OF Nomar Mazara to White Sox for prospect". ESPN.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
  19. ^ Kennedi Landry (April 30, 2021). "Where will Rangers' top prospects begin '21?". MLB.com. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
  20. ^ "Steele Walker player page". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
  21. ^ "Preliminary 2022 Round Rock Express Roster Announced". MiLB.com. March 31, 2022. Retrieved April 1, 2022.
  22. ^ "Rangers select contract of outfielder Steele Walker from Round Rock, option INF Andy Ibáñez to Round Rock". MLB.com. June 5, 2022. Retrieved June 5, 2022.
  23. ^ "Steele Walker's 1st career homer | 06/07/2022". MLB.com.
  24. ^ Franco, Anthony (August 4, 2022). "Rangers Designate Steven Duggar, Steele Walker For Assignment". MLB Trade Rumors.
  25. ^ "Giants Claim Steele Walker From Rangers". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved August 7, 2022.
  26. ^ https://theprospecttimes.com/steele-walker-texas-ranger/
  27. ^ "Outrights: Demeritte, Walker". mlbtraderumors.com. Retrieved June 3, 2023.
  28. ^ "Steele Walker - Stats - Batting". fangraphs.com. Retrieved July 15, 2023.
  29. ^ "Tigers' Steele Walker: Cut loose by Tigers". CBS.