A Conversation With Red Sox Pitching Prospect Brandon Walter

Brandon Walter hasn’t come out of nowhere, but he has come a long way. A 26th-round pick in 2019 out of the University of Delaware, the 25-year-old southpaw went into last season a veritable unknown, and he left it as the fastest riser in the Red Sox system. Displaying elite movement from a low arm slot, Walter fanned 132 batters and allowed just 67 hits in 89.1 innings, between Low-A Salem and High-A Greenville. He’ll enter the 2022 campaign ranked No. 10 on our newly-released Red Sox Top Prospects list.

Walter discussed his repertoire, and his unexpected emergence in a steadily-improving system, last month.

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David Laurila: Your Baseball America writeup said, among other things, “His stuff and pitch data suggest reason to believe in a big ceiling.” What does that mean to you, particularly the reference to data?

Brandon Walter: “I’ve learned a lot over the last couple of years, especially since Chaim Bloom came into our organization. They’re big on analytics and pitch data [and] they’re preaching it to us. To me, it mostly means that my stuff is plus, so I can simplify and just throw it in the zone. I can make hitters deal with what I’m throwing instead of trying to hit corners and risk falling behind in the count. Basically, I can just try to get ahead with with my three pitches and compete that way. Getting that information and knowing that my stuff is above average allows me to just attack hitters.”

Laurila: Has the data reinforced things you kind of already knew, or has any of it actually come as a surprise?

Walter: “I’ve definitely learned a lot from it. I always knew that I had movement on my pitches, and I knew that my stuff was a lot better than it was in 2019, the last time I’d played. This was coming into last year. So I knew my stuff had jumped — my velo was up a couple of miles an hour — but I didn’t know how it compared to other pitchers and how it would work in the zone. I really didn’t even know about that system, how what pitches work in certain counts to certain hitters. All of that information has been huge.”

Laurila: What was behind the increase in velocity?

Walter: “Adding 10 pounds was big. I’m 210-ish now, and [the added weight] is mainly muscle, so I’m stronger. I didn’t do any kind of crazy weighted-ball program or anything like that. I didn’t really change much with my delivery. But I have become more athletic, and that has helped my delivery become smoother.”

Laurila: I understand that you throw from a low three-quarters slot. Has that always been the case?

Walter: “Before Tommy John surgery [in 2018], my mechanics were maybe a little different, but I’ve always had that three-quarters slot. When I came back, I was thinking maybe that’s why I got hurt, so I tried to go higher. The lower slot is just natural to me, though. It doesn’t even feel like I’m throwing sidearm, or low three-quarters; it just feels like a normal throwing path for me. That’s how my body works. I’m more of a rotational athlete than other guys who are more up-and-down, carry the ball, and all that stuff.”

Laurila: I assume the lower slot is why you throw a slider and not a curveball?

Walter: “Yes. I’m more of a sinker/slider pitcher. Last year I came into spring training with a slider and a curveball, and with their pitch data, the Red Sox told me that the slider was way better, especially with the way my fastball moves. The slider mirrors it the other way.”

Laurila: What is movement profile on your slider?

Walter: “It’s pretty much all horizontal action, It’s sweepy and parked in the low 80s. Numbers-wise, the vertical movement is close to zero.”

Laurila: Is it always the same pitch, or do you vary the shapes?

Walter: “It’s the same every time, but my starting point will be different depending on if I want to put it in the strike zone, onto the back foot, or off the plate away to get a chase. Nothing changes with the release or the way I throw it.”

Laurila: Are your fastballs all two-seamers?

Walter: “I’d say it’s about 90% two-seams. I do throw a four-seam, and that’s normally up in the zone, most of the time to righties and looking for a chase. It profiles different than my two-seam; it stays more true and doesn’t doesn’t break as much arm-side and has a little more carry. I’m looking for swings at belt level or above with that one.”

Laurila: Do you consider your primary fastball a two-seamer or a sinker?

Walter: “The organization calls it a sinker, but I don’t throw it with sink in mind. I try to get as much horizontal movement as I can. In my head, I consider it a two-seamer.”

Laurila: Does it get sink?

Walter: “Yes, but it’s mainly arm-side run. It’s more run that sink — by a lot.”

Laurila: What about your changeup?

Walter: “My changeup plays well. It’s easy for me with the slot, because I can stay on top of it and spin it. I throw an interesting changeup, because most changeups have low spin and my changeup is high-spin. It spins more than my fastball and gets good action. The movement is similar to my two-seamer. It’s about 20–22 inches of horizontal movement, has a little bit more depth, and is about 10 mph slower.”

Laurila: What are the velocities and spin rates?

Walter: “My changeup spins 2,400–2,500 [rpms] and is right around 85 [mph]. My two-seam spins 2,100–2,200 and was 94 on average last year. My four-seam averaged 95.”

Laurila: And again, you’re all about attacking the strike zone.

Walter: “Yes. Last year was different for me. We pretty much set the catcher up middle, every pitch pretty much, until we got to two strikes. Then I’d maybe be looking to throw the slider out of the zone and we’d move him around. But early in the count, and even sometimes with two strikes, we’d set him up middle and I’d go into attack mode. With the action I get on the ball, it’s usually going to run off the plate one way or the other. I get a lot of movement on my pitches.”