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By Jon Paul Hoornstra
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Baltimore Orioles claimed former New York Mets and Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Josh Walker on Thursday, two days after the left-hander was designated for assignment by the Philadelphia Phillies.
Walker was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O's 40-man roster is currently full.
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Walker, 30, is 0-1 with a 6.59 ERA in 27 career major league appearances. He began the season with the Toronto Blue Jays and went 0-0 with a 7.20 ERA in three games before he was traded to the Phillies on May 29.
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The Phillies assigned Walker to Triple-A Lehigh Valley, where he went 2-1 with a 4.50 ERA in 23 games out of the bullpen. He did not appear in an MLB contest before being designated for assignment on Tuesday.
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The Orioles have three left-handers in their major league bullpen: Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns and Grant Wolfram. The three veterans are, like Walker, effectively in position to audition for the Orioles' 2026 plans. At 37-90, Baltimore is playing out the string on a disappointing 2025 season.
The Orioles began taking a longer look at their future Sunday, when top prospect Samuel Basallo was summoned from Triple-A for his major league debut.
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A native of Otisville, New York, Walker made his big league debut with the Mets in May 2023, the conclusion of a long professional journey that began in 2017. Walker went 0-1 with a 6.45 ERA in 24 games across two seasons (2023-24) in Queens.
The Mets originally chose Walker in the 37th round of the 2017 draft out of the University of New Haven.
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While still a prospect in 2022, Walker rescued a kitten during his first spring training camp with the Mets when he heard meowing from the hood of his car and discovered the black-and-white cat under the engine.
According to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com, Walker took the cat to a vet, decided to adopt the kitten, and named it Metro.
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For all his impressive Grapefruit League stats — a 2.65 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts in 17 innings — Walker has yet to translate that performance into regular-season success in the regular season.
The rebuilding Orioles might offer Walker his best chance at a long look in MLB.
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