Neil Walker swing and a miss?

Walker works with Coach Ritchie

Neil Walker has been a hot topic lately. Many of you are asking my thoughts. I think he will be around for a while. He appears calm and relaxed. Some think he may end up at an even different position before his career is up in Pittsburgh ala Craig Biggio. Some feel he should move back to catcher. Or the outfield corner. Or… lets face it, there are many options available. He is athletic and he can play defense. He quickly proved his major league ability while learning third base.

The quetion to answer is this…how about his stick?

He did strike out 20% of the time at AAA last year. However, he also hit for extra bases 10% as well with 25 doubles, 7 triples and 16 dongs while driving in 80 runs. He only walked 29 times.

He is 22 years old. The Pirates were the third worst minor league organization in all of baseball. So there wasnt a lot of talent playing around Neil coming up, getting on base, which would have helped his numbers. I trust this can change in Pittsburgh.

I know he had a great spring in 07 with the Bucs. 355 (11-31) with 2 HR and 8 RBI. I am pulling for the Pittsburgh kid. What I want to know is do you think he can hold down his strikeouts or is he destined to be a free-swinger?

The key to his future is in his bat. Not where he is going to play. Remember, if a player can hit, that player will have a spot in the field.