Brandon Walter will make Red Sox history when he makes his debut this week

With the injury to Tanner Houck, the Boston Red Sox have been left scrambling to fill out their starting pitching rotation. This unit was already depleted following the injury to Chris Sale and the underperformance of Corey Kluber. Red Sox fans watched left-hander Chris Murphy make his MLB debut earlier this month. It now appears the Red Sox will utilize another southpaw from Worcester to fill their pitching holes.

According to Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com, Brandon Walter will make his major league debut Thursday against the Minnesota Twins. When he takes the mound, Walter will make Red Sox history.

Walter was drafted out of the University of Delaware by the Red Sox in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Amateur Draft. Per Soxprospects.com, Walter features three average or better pitches and has the potential to be a back-of-the-rotation starter. He split 2022 between Portland and Worcester with a combined record of 3-3 with an ERA of 3.59. His strikeout-to-walk ratio of 10.71 was very impressive exemplifying his tremendous control.

This season, he has struggled in 13 games in Worcester posting a 1-5 record with an ERA of 6.28. He seems to have had issues with his usually reliable control with his strikeout-to-walk ratio plummetting to 2.46. Others have questioned some bad luck. Regardless, he seems to have rebounded in his last two starts pitching 10-1/3 innings allowing four earned runs while allowing two walks and striking out 13 batters.

Since 1966, the Red Sox have selected 41 players in the 26th round of the MLB Amateur Draft. Only 11 of these players made it to the major leagues. Of this short list, only two players made their major league debut with the Red Sox. First baseman Jack Baker played two seasons with the team in the 1970's accumulating a bWAR -0.3 with a .374 OPS and one homerun. Centerfielder Lee Graham played one season for the club in 1983 accumulating a bWAR 0.0 while logging 6 at-bats scoring two runs without any hits.

Some of the other 11 players found success with other teams. Most notably Ed Sprague who played 11 years with several clubs with a .737 OPS,152 home runs, and 5.7 bWAR. More recently, Kirby Yates is now pitching in his ninth season as a reliever with a career bWAR 5.0, ERA 3.56, and 57 saves.

When Walter makes his debut tomorrow, he will be only the third player that the Red Sox have selected in the 26th round to make his MLB debut with the club and the first in 40 years. He also has the distinction of being the final 26th-rounder the Red Sox selected as the draft was shortened after that year. Baker and Graham accumulated a total bWAR of -0.3. It is not hard to envision Walter becoming the most impactful player selected by the Red Sox in the 26th round.

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