Jeremy Walker was a fringe starting pitching prospect for the Braves not too long ago. His numbers as a starter were fairly meh and his peripherals backed up that evaluation with a strikeout rate of less than 7 K/9 and stuff that certainly wasn’t bad, but also didn’t inspire much thought about him having much of a ceiling.
His conversion to a relief arm changed that calculus as he burst on to the scene in 2019 and made his way to the major leagues as a bona fide bullpen arm of note. We didn’t get to see him play in 2020, so lets take a look at what we could realistically expect.
What went right? In short, not much. Walker did not pitch during the 2020 season as he was placed on the injured list with a shoulder impingement. While the decision to put him on the IL didn’t happen until June, it is worth mentioning that the injury first popped up back in spring, so he has been on the shelf for a while now.
What went wrong? See the above shoulder impingement that cost him the 2020 season. Impingements can be tricky as sometimes they can be alleviated just through rest and rehab, while other times they are indicative of a bigger problem that requires further medical intervention. We don’t know what the root cause of Jeremy’s injury is nor do we have a timetable for his return, so its hard to draw too many conclusions. On the one hand, we haven’t gotten any word that his shoulder has required surgery which is obviously a good sign. However, not getting any information regarding his recovery during or after the season does make one wonder how close he is to being healthy again.
What to expect in 2021: If Jeremy is healthy, he is a guy that can contribute at the major league level. He typically doesn’t walk guys which is a big plus and he saw a big jump in his strikeout numbers in 2019 once he was converted to being a reliever. He may not be a guy that ends up at the backend of the bullpen, but as a righty reliever who can give you multiple innings if need be, the team could do far worse. However, Josh Tomlin seems like at least an early season lock for the multi-inning reliever guy and there is a lot of competition for bullpen spots at the moment. First things first, we need to find out if he is healthy. Once we get there, how he looks upon his return will dictate how much of a role, if any, he will have with Atlanta going forward.