Braves’ Walker called up for a day; pitches 3.1 innings
Published 11:00 am Thursday, August 15, 2019
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Jeremy Walker of Advance got his second taste of the major leagues last week.
The Atlanta Braves placed Austin Riley on the 10-day injured list on Aug. 8 with a right knee injury. In a corresponding move, the Braves recalled reliever Walker from Triple-A Gwinnett.
By promoting Walker, the Braves added some bullpen depth after long relief option Josh Tomlin threw 31 pitches and four other relievers were deployed on Aug. 7.
Walker got plenty of work in a 9-2 loss to Miami on Aug. 8. He relieved starter Dallas Keuchel with two outs in the fourth following Brian Anderson’s two-run homer.
Garrett Cooper greeted Walker with a double, but Lewis Brinson struck out swinging on a 3-2 pitch.
Walker got the first two batters in the fifth, but three straight hits pushed across a run – the first one he has allowed in his young Major League career.
Walker responded beautifully. He faced four batters in the sixth and retired the side in order in the seventh. He threw 65 pitches in 3.1 innings, including 41 strikes. Although he allowed five hits, he only gave up the one run, walked none and struck out two.
The next day, Walker was optioned back to Gwinnett as Atlanta called up pitcher Patrick Weigel.
In Walker’s first call-up to the big leagues, he pitched on July 26, 27 and 29 and worked a scoreless inning in each appearance.
After the Miami game, his ERA stood at 1.42 over 6.1 innings.