Steele Walker

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #17 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: A native of Prosper, Texas, Walker was one of college baseball's top hitters at Oklahoma when the White Sox drafted him 41st overall in 2018. The Rangers acquired him for Nomar Mazara at the 2019 Winter Meetings. Walker joined the alternate training site in September and showed off an experienced, polished offensive game.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker has a solid track record of hitting. He has an advanced approach and good plate discipline. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and hits the ball hard back up the middle and to right field. He has average power with enough natural lift in his swing to find gaps and clear fences. The power he has now is to his pull side. Though athletic enough to play center field, Walker projects as a solid right fielder. He's very confident, which has led some to see aloofness from time to time and questions about if he will bring his best every day.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker does a lot of things well, which makes the Rangers confident he will be a major league contributor sooner rather than later. He will likely open 2021 at Double A Frisco, only miles from his hometown.
• 
  Ranked Texas Rangers #22 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Walker earned a rep as an amateur—both at Oklahoma and in summer college leagues—as a talented hitter and the White Sox selected him in 2018 and signed him for $2 million. A lingering oblique injury put a damper on his production in his first pro season, then in December the White Sox traded him to the Rangers for outfielder Nomar Mazara.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker turned 23 during the 2019 season, putting him on the older side for a Class A prospect, with a mix of average or near-average tools across the board. He's a high-contact hitter who tracks pitches well, striking out in just 15 percent of his plate appearances. He has lift in his swing with average power that shows up mostly to the pull side. With average speed and arm strength, Walker is athletic enough to play center field in the minors, but a lot of scouts expect him to slide over to a corner, creating some tweener risk in his profile unless his power jumps.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker will get his first taste of the upper levels when he heads to Double-A Frisco in 2020. He might be a reserve outfielder, though there's a chance his hitting is good enough to carry him in an everyday role.
• 
  Ranked Chicago White Sox #10 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: Throughout his amateur career, Walker established himself as a talented, professional hitter. After successful turns in the Northwoods and Cape Cod League, Walker was among the standouts on the 2017 Collegiate National Team. He finished second in batting average and slugging percentage on Team USA and tied for the team lead in home runs. He set collegiate highs in all three triple-slash categories in his junior year at Oklahoma (.352/.441/.606) before a late-season oblique injury forced him to sit out the Sooners’ postseason. That oblique injury lingered, which helped explain a lackluster pro debut.
  
  Scouting Report: Walker’s value is tied to his bat, which the White Sox believe is capable of producing both average and power. He has strong wrists and a smooth, rhythmic swing from the left side that features a lofted swing path that could help him hit for above-average power. He showed clear pull-side tendencies in his brief pro debut. The White Sox were pleased with how he handled center field as a pro, and his average foot speed and arm strength should give him a chance to stick there for the foreseeable future thanks to solid routes and reads. If he does have to move to a corner outfield spot, his arm strength and power potential would give him a fair shot to profile in right field.
  
  The Future: After a tune-up in Rookie ball and low Class A Kannapolis in 2018, Walker should begin his first full pro season at high Class A Winston-Salem.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #32 prospect in 2018 draft
  Walker is one of the better pure hitters in the draft class and is in the midst of a career-best season with Oklahoma this spring, hitting .373/.469/.634 through 41 games with 11 home runs and a 13 percent walk rate. Each of those numbers are career-highs for Walker and speak to his impressive hand-eye coordination and pitch recognition from the left side. The bat will get Walker drafted because he lacks a true standout plus tool--unless a club puts a 60 on his bat, which is tough to do but might make some sense in Walker''s case--as a corner outfielder without blazing speed or a big arm. At just 5-foot-11, 190 pounds, it is difficult to project much more than average power for Walker, though he has already hit double-digit home runs this spring and hit seven in 53 games with a wood bat in the Northwoods League during the summer of 2016. Speaking of his wood bat track record, Walker has that as well, hitting .406/.479/.557 in the aforementioned Northwoods League, .280/.330.400 in a brief eight-game stint in the Cape Cod League last summer and an even more impressive .333/.417/.514 with two home runs and a team-best five doubles in 20 games with Team USA. Walker might not have an immensely high ceiling thanks to his lack of tools and corner profile, but college hitters who perform well seemingly always go high and Walker is among the safer bets in the class to have some sort of major league impact.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Carolina League #20 prospect in 2019
  Walker enjoyed a healthy season with Winston-Salem, finishing seventh in the league in slugging percentage and OPS and earning a spot on the postseason all-star team. "His bat stays in the zone a long, long time,” Winston-Salem manager Justin Jirschele said. "He gives himself a good opportunity to square the ball up.” Some scouts question how high Walker’s ceiling could be and see him as a second-division left fielder in the major leagues, but they also laud his passion for the game. Walker’s power is usually to the right-center field gap, and he’ll have to show more to all fields. Jirschele, who played Walker in center field every day, praised the Oklahoma alum’s improvement in strike-zone judgment and his defense. "He has raw power, and he’s just trying to figure things out,” Jirschele said. "He’s a plus outfielder as well, and he can run, too."

• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: A native of Prosper, Texas, Walker was one of college baseball's top hitters at Oklahoma when the White Sox drafted him 41st overall in 2018. The Rangers acquired him for Nomar Mazara at the 2019 Winter Meetings. Walker joined the alternate training site in September and showed off an experienced, polished offensive game.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker has a solid track record of hitting. He has an advanced approach and good plate discipline. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and hits the ball hard back up the middle and to right field. He has average power with enough natural lift in his swing to find gaps and clear fences. The power he has now is to his pull side. Though athletic enough to play center field, Walker projects as a solid right fielder. He's very confident, which has led some to see aloofness from time to time and questions about if he will bring his best every day.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker does a lot of things well, which makes the Rangers confident he will be a major league contributor sooner rather than later. He will likely open 2021 at Double A Frisco, only miles from his hometown.
• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: A native of Prosper, Texas, Walker was one of college baseball's top hitters at Oklahoma when the White Sox drafted him 41st overall in 2018. The Rangers acquired him for Nomar Mazara at the 2019 Winter Meetings. Walker joined the alternate training site in September and showed off an experienced, polished offensive game.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker has a solid track record of hitting. He has an advanced approach and good plate discipline. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and hits the ball hard back up the middle and to right field. He has average power with enough natural lift in his swing to find gaps and clear fences. The power he has now is to his pull side. Though athletic enough to play center field, Walker projects as a solid right fielder. He's very confident, which has led some to see aloofness from time to time and questions about if he will bring his best every day.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker does a lot of things well, which makes the Rangers confident he will be a major league contributor sooner rather than later. He will likely open 2021 at Double A Frisco, only miles from his hometown.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: A native of Prosper, Texas, Walker was one of college baseball's top hitters at Oklahoma when the White Sox drafted him 41st overall in 2018. The Rangers acquired him for Nomar Mazara at the 2019 Winter Meetings. Walker joined the alternate training site in September and showed off an experienced, polished offensive game.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker has a solid track record of hitting. He has an advanced approach and good plate discipline. He has excellent hand-eye coordination and hits the ball hard back up the middle and to right field. He has average power with enough natural lift in his swing to find gaps and clear fences. The power he has now is to his pull side. Though athletic enough to play center field, Walker projects as a solid right fielder. He's very confident, which has led some to see aloofness from time to time and questions about if he will bring his best every day.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker does a lot of things well, which makes the Rangers confident he will be a major league contributor sooner rather than later. He will likely open 2021 at Double A Frisco, only miles from his hometown.
• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Walker earned a rep as an amateur—both at Oklahoma and in summer college leagues—as a talented hitter and the White Sox selected him in 2018 and signed him for $2 million. A lingering oblique injury put a damper on his production in his first pro season, then in December the White Sox traded him to the Rangers for outfielder Nomar Mazara.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker turned 23 during the 2019 season, putting him on the older side for a Class A prospect, with a mix of average or near-average tools across the board. He’s a high-contact hitter who tracks pitches well, striking out in just 15 percent of his plate appearances. He has lift in his swing with average power that shows up mostly to the pull side. With average speed and arm strength, Walker is athletic enough to play center field in the minors, but a lot of scouts expect him to slide over to a corner, creating some tweener risk in his profile unless his power jumps.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker will get his first taste of the upper levels when he heads to Double-A Frisco in 2020. He might be a reserve outfielder, though there’s a chance his hitting is good enough to carry him in an everyday role. BA GRADE 40 Risk: Medium BA GRADE 45 Risk: High
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Walker earned a rep as an amateur—both at Oklahoma and in summer college leagues—as a talented hitter and the White Sox selected him in 2018 and signed him for $2 million. A lingering oblique injury put a damper on his production in his first pro season, then in December the White Sox traded him to the Rangers for outfielder Nomar Mazara.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Walker turned 23 during the 2019 season, putting him on the older side for a Class A prospect, with a mix of average or near-average tools across the board. He's a high-contact hitter who tracks pitches well, striking out in just 15 percent of his plate appearances. He has lift in his swing with average power that shows up mostly to the pull side. With average speed and arm strength, Walker is athletic enough to play center field in the minors, but a lot of scouts expect him to slide over to a corner, creating some tweener risk in his profile unless his power jumps.
  
  THE FUTURE: Walker will get his first taste of the upper levels when he heads to Double-A Frisco in 2020. He might be a reserve outfielder, though there's a chance his hitting is good enough to carry him in an everyday role.
• December, 2018 Scouting Report
  Walker enjoyed a healthy season with Winston-Salem, finishing seventh in the league in slugging percentage and OPS and earning a spot on the postseason all-star team. "His bat stays in the zone a long, long time,” Winston-Salem manager Justin Jirschele said. "He gives himself a good opportunity to square the ball up.” Some scouts question how high Walker’s ceiling could be and see him as a second-division left fielder in the major leagues, but they also laud his passion for the game. Walker’s power is usually to the right-center field gap, and he’ll have to show more to all fields. Jirschele, who played Walker in center field every day, praised the Oklahoma alum’s improvement in strike-zone judgment and his defense. "He has raw power, and he’s just trying to figure things out,” Jirschele said. "He’s a plus outfielder as well, and he can run, too."