Pittsburgh Pirates Postseason: Neil Walker Is Ultimate Disappointment

By Nate Vandergrift on October 1, 2014

There are a ton of disappointing moments to point to in the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Wild Card loss to the San Francisco Giants: the absolutely silent bats that produced only four singles, the big grand slam by Brandon Crawford, and the Pirates bullpen’s ineffectiveness. However, the most disappointing postseason player for the Pirates has to be Neil Walker. Last year, Walker’s 2-24, including an 0-19 in the National League Division Series, really prevented the Pirates from advancing to the National League Championship Series. This year, he was barely noticeable at the plate.

So in two straight postseason appearances, Walker is a combined 2-28 with just one RBI and one extra base hit. This is a guy who the Pirates batted in the clean-up spot most of the season. In his first at-bat in this year’s Wild Card game, Walker looked at a juicy, 93 MPH fastball right down the middle for strike three. It was one of the only mistake pitches Madison Bumgarner made all night. After that at bat, Walker looked uninspired and lost at the plate. His last at bat pretty much summed up Walker in October. He hit a weak pop-up to the catcher to end the game. Walker is the Pittsburgh Kid, the hometown product people love to root for. He should be the emotional leader who is pumped up about the postseason, but instead he looks uninspired; the numbers don’t lie, he never produces in October.

Walker had arguably one of the best regular seasons by a second baseman in the entire league. He led second baseman in the National League with 23 home runs, despite missing some time with an injury. Only Minnesota Twins second baseman Brian Dozier had as many home runs as Walker. The Pittsburgh Kid also knocked in 76 runs and batted .271. Additionally, he showed that he can still hit from the right side of the plate, hitting .280 against lefties. His power is definitely mostly left-handed, as he only hit two home runs off left-handed pitching.

Many have blasted the Pirates for not signing Walker to an extension during this season. Walker is up for arbitration the next two seasons, which means the Pirates will have to pay up to keep him on the team. He will be a free agent after the 2016 season at the age of 31. If he keeps putting up the big regular season stats, he will fetch a lot of money on the open market. The Pirates would be wise to let Walker walk away if they want to make any noise in October. I see the Pirates saying goodbye to Walker long before he becomes a free agent.

Nate Vandergrift is a Pirates writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on twitter @natevandergrift, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.

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