In a season where the most frequent roster move seems to be a trip to the disabled list, the starting rotation has not been immune. Twelve different pitchers have at least one start this season for Delmarva, as compared to 13 over the full season last year and 11 back in 2013.
But injuries and callups create opportunities, and Josh Walker has made the most of his chance so far. In 12 starts since being called up on May 31 Walker has gone 7-2 with a 3.17 ERA and nifty 40/10 strikeout/walk ratio in 59 2/3 innings. Moreover, his wins tend to be dominating: five shutout innings at Kannapolis and Lakewood for his first wins on June 7 and 18, seven shutout at home to Lakewood on July 1 – where he allowed just three hits – and a one-hit shutout for 5 1/3 innings at Charleston on July 22. That was the first of three straight starts and wins for the 24-year-old Walker, a streak which is current and includes Sunday’s win.
Josh came from the University of New Mexico in his hometown of Albuquerque and was only a 22nd round pick last year. He pitched reasonably well as a reliever with Aberdeen last season (1-1 record, 3.80 ERA and 1.27 WHIP in 23 2/3 innings) but seems to be taking to a starting role quite well. None of his Aberdeen appearances were starts; in fact, he only pitched once before the fifth inning with the IronBirds and that was early on.
With those seven wins, though, Walker has moved into second place among Delmarva’s staff. He only trails John Means, who has eight more starts under his belt and only has eight wins to show for it (along with a no-hitter, of course.) This sort of performance makes the likelihood of a promotion high, although I think it would be to begin 2016. Walker hasn’t pitched a full season yet since he came here in May, so there’s a chance he could make a handful of starts here next year as well.
In any case, though, being able to put together a dominating performance is half the battle, with the other half being consistency. Josh only has a couple blemishes on his record, though, so he may be closer to that goal than some others on the staff. It will be interesting to see how he progresses through the system based on his success here.