That Walker kid's all right too. ;)
But seriously, Blash spent his first couple weeks in A-ball not swinging at anything and walking like a crazy person, but being unable to make contact. Now he's walking slightly less (though still a lot) and is making serious contact, for power.
He's a raw kid who had to leave Miami and basically tripped and fell to us in the draft. Thanks to Davey Johnson for convincing him to not worry about the signing bonus and get his butt to camp so he can outwork some people.
He's second in the league in walks - and he's played at least 17 fewer games than everybody around him! He didn't walk like this last year, or strike out this little. He has 3 times as many walks and half as many Ks as last season, in about the same number of plate appearances. If the average starts to climb as well now that he's getting the hang of this...
Look out. He's incredibly raw, and one of those 4 or 5-tool talents that make us cringe in Seattle because they never work out for us. But he's huge, with good bat speed, a great arm, good speed in the field, power...tools-wise he's got a lot working for him. He was comped to Jermaine Dye on draft day, and he sure seems to be soaking up instruction like a sponge. Love it.
And Walker...jeez man, I remember when he was supposed to be so totally raw and unable to get his breaking stuff over. How far away is March? Sheesh.
At this rate I can't wait to see the million dollar international bonus babies hit short-season, or the rest our our high-school pitching contingent for that matter. We could be crawling in high-upside, high-performance youngsters shortly if some things continue to fall our way.
~G
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