Baltimore Orioles claim former Toronto Blue Jays pitcher off of waivers

The left-hander was recently designated for assignment by the Phillies.

Walker was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk. The O's 40-man roster is currently full.

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.

A towering 6'6″ left-hander, Walker has appeared in parts of three big league seasons, two with the Mets and earlier this year with the Blue Jays.

He's pitched only 27 1/3 MLB frames, however, and sports a rocky 6.59 ERA in that limited sample of work.

He's fanned nearly one quarter of his opponents and has a sharp 12.4% swinging-strike rate, but command has been a struggle for him both in the majors and in the upper minors.

That said, Walker does have a more palatable 4.46 ERA and 26% strikeout rate in 167 2/3 innings of Triple-A work.

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 Aug. 19. He only had to wait two days to find a new home.

The Orioles have three left-handers in their major league bullpen: Keegan Akin, Dietrich Enns and Grant Wolfram.

But three veterans are, like Walker, effectively in position to audition for the Orioles' 2026 plans. At 59-67, Baltimore is playing out the string on a disappointing 2025 season.

Sunday, Baltimore summoned top its prospect, catcher Samuel Basallo, from Triple-A for his major league debut.