The Pirates re-signed left-hander to a minor league deal earlier this week, as noted by . Walker was from the Mets to the Pirates at the trade deadline last month but was designated for a signment shortly thereafter. Walker suffered an undisclosed injury shortly after joining the Pirates and, as Adonis Medina Jersey a result, could not be placed on outright waivers when Pittsburgh designated him for a signment. As such, the club evidently instead released Walker before re-signing him to a minor league deal to clear his spot on the 40-man roster while still retaining him in the organization. Walker, 29, was picked by the Mets in the 37th round of the 2017 draft. The lefty struggled to stay on the field early in his profe sional career with just 29 total affiliated appearances from 2017 to 2019, most of which came in relief. Following the cancelled minor league season in 2020, Walker returned to action as a starting pitcher in the minors and rapidly climbed the minor league level but hit a bit of a wall at Triple-A, where he struggled to a 5.19 ERA with a strikeout rate of just 15.8% in nine starts. Those difficulties as a starter in the upper levels of the minors combined with an injury-marred 2022 season led Walker to move back into a relief role in 2023. He put together a dominant performance at Triple-A that year, posting a sparkling 1.84 ERA in 29 1/3 innings while striking out a fantastic 33.3% of batters faced. That excellent work in the minors was enough to earn Walker his first big league call-up at the age of 28 last year, but the lefty struggled in the majors as he allowed eleven runs, nine of them earned, and walked an elevated 12.5% of batters faced in ten big league innings last year. 2024 was more of the same during his time in the Mets organization, as he struck out 31% of batters faced with a strong 2.84 ERA but walked 10.9% of opponents with a lackluster ERA of 5.10. Walker seemed likely to get another look in the majors with the Pirates at some point this year but his aforementioned injury seems to have derailed things for him, at least for the time being. With few details available regarding Walkers injury and his timetable for return its unclear when or if hell pitch again this season, but with le s than a year of service time in the big leagues and one minor league option remaining its easy to imagine the lefty being an interesting longer-term piece given his recent succe s at Triple-A. Brooks Raley Jersey