Atlanta Braves claim former Toronto Blue Jays left-hander off of waivers

The team announced they claimed two pitchers off waivers from the Orioles on Thursday.

Walker, 31 in December, is a straightforward lefty reliever. His major league track record isn't especially long, with 26 appearances scattered over the past three seasons, pitching for the Mets and Blue Jays.

He has a 6.59 ERA in 27 1/3 innings. His minor league work is intriguing, however. From 2022 to 2025, he tossed 131 2/3 innings on the farm with a 3.90 ERA.

His 11.6% walk rate was certainly high but he also punched out 30.5% of batters faced in that time with a steady diet of grounders as well.

The southpaw bounced around the league in 2025, going from the Jays to the Phillies via a small trade and then to the Orioles via waivers.

He exhausted his final option season along the way and is now out of options.

The Orioles just signed Walker to a one-year major league contract on Nov 4.

The salary figures weren't reported but Walker is presumably going to be paid at a rate nominally above league minimum.

The idea of the O's agreeing to such a deal is that it would theoretically make it more likely that he passes through waivers unclaimed and sticks around as non-roster depth.

Atlanta prevented that from happening in this case. They had multiple open roster spots and used one of them to grab Walker.

For now, he gives them another lefty relief option, alongside Aaron Bummer, Dylan Lee and others.

However, it wouldn't be surprising if Atlanta tries to pass Walker through waivers later, so that they are the ones who get to keep him as a depth option without him taking up a roster spot.