The Diamondbacks have two pitchers with tremendous upside that haven’t translated into results in Robbie Ray and Archie Bradley. Yesterday’s trade added another name to that category as the Diamondbacks acquired Taijuan Walker from the Seattle Mariners. A mid-market team with a small-market payroll will be taking a lot of chances on players with that kind of upside in their cost-controlled years. Walker is no different than other pitchers the Diamondbacks have acquired in this category. The Diamondbacks have 6 starting pitchers that are 26 or younger: Matt Koch, Shelby Miller, Braden Shipley, Ray, Walker, and Bradley.
Walker came up the Mariners farm system as one of the game’s top pitching prospects and nearly became a Diamondback four years ago.