Steele Walker
Steele Simons Walker (born July 30, 1996) is an American professional baseball outfielder in the Detroit Tigers organization. He played college baseball at the University of Oklahoma. He was selected in the second round of the 2018 Major League Baseball draft. He has played in MLB for the Texas Rangers.
| Steele Walker | |
|---|---|
Walker with the Round Rock Express in 2022 | |
| Detroit Tigers | |
| Outfielder | |
| Born: July 30, 1996 Mount Pleasant, Texas | |
Bats: Left Throws: Left | |
| MLB debut | |
| June 5, 2022, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | |
| Batting average | .071 |
| Home runs | 1 |
| Runs batted in | 1 |
| Teams | |
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 Class A-Advanced 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 Sacramento River Cats.[2] He was designated for assignment on August 17.
Detroit Tigers
On November 15, 2022, Walker was traded to the Detroit Tigers for cash considerations.
References
- ^ Bruce Campbell (July 24, 2015). "Connie Mack Mustangs' Steele Walker, raised a Longhorn, now a Sooner". Enid News & Eagle.
- ^ Tim Johnson (August 8, 2016). "Chucks outfielder chasing historic mark". Wausau Daily Herald.
- ^ Tyler Palmateer. "Steele Walker's flair, talent a good combination for Oklahoma". The Norman Transcript.
- ^ "Steele Walker". pointstreak.com. Retrieved September 23, 2021.
- ^ Ryan Aber (June 4, 2018). "Oklahoma's Steele Walker picked by the Chicago White Sox in the second round". The Oklahoman.
- ^ Tyler Palmateer. "OU baseball: Steele Walker named Golden Spikes Award semifinalist". Pauls Valley Democrat.
- ^ "2018 All-Big 12 Baseball Awards Announced". Big 12 Conference. May 22, 2018. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
- ^ "MLB.com 2018 Prospect Watch". MLB.com.
- ^ "MLB.com draft projection: Oklahoma's Steele Walker a first-round pick". The Oklahoman. April 30, 2018.
- ^ Daryl Van Schouwen (June 4, 2018). "White Sox select Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker in second round". Chicago Sun-Times.
- ^ Palmateer, Tyler (June 29, 2018). "Former Oklahoma outfielder Steele Walker signs with Chicago White Sox". The Norman Transcript.
- ^ "Steele Walker Stats, Highlights, Bio". MiLB.com. Retrieved September 11, 2018.
- ^ Michael Freer (April 3, 2019). "Intimidators' Man of Steele: Highly touted prospect set to enjoy his time in Kannapolis". Independent Tribune.
- ^ "White Sox's Steele Walker: Advances to High-A". CBSSports.com. RotoWire.com. April 30, 2019. Retrieved June 2, 2019.
- ^ Brian Stultz (June 14, 2019). "Walker hits for the cycle for Dash". MiLB.com. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- ^ "Hot Stove roundup: The latest trades". MiLB.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ James Fegan (August 7, 2019). "'It's not an act': The dichotomy of White Sox prospect Steele Walker". The Athletic. Retrieved December 10, 2019.
- ^ "Rangers trade OF Nomar Mazara to White Sox for prospect". ESPN.com. December 11, 2019. Retrieved December 11, 2019.
- ^ Kennedi Landry (April 30, 2021). "Where will Rangers' top prospects begin '21?". MLB.com. Retrieved May 8, 2021.
- ^ "Steele Walker player page". Baseball-Reference.com. Retrieved October 5, 2021.
- ^ "Preliminary 2022 Round Rock Express Roster Announced". MiLB.com. March 31, 2022. Retrieved 2022-04-01.
- ^ "Rangers select contract of outfielder Steele Walker from Round Rock, option INF Andy Ibáñez to Round Rock". MLB.com. June 5, 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-05.
- ^ https://www.mlb.com/video/cal-quantrill-in-play-run-s-to-steele-walker
- ^ Franco, Anthony (August 4, 2022). "Rangers Designate Steven Duggar, Steele Walker For Assignment". MLB Trade Rumors.
- ^ "Giants Claim Steele Walker From Rangers". MLB Trade Rumors. Retrieved 2022-08-07.
External links
- Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball Reference, or Fangraphs, or Baseball Reference (Minors), or Retrosheet
- Oklahoma Sooners bio