Steele Walker

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.