January 14: Walker Says Goldeyes Defence The Secret To His Success

If there is one thing about Goldeyes starting pitcher Ace Walker, it’s that everyone who knows him, likes him.

The 26-year-old right-hander is a talented yet unassuming guy that gives no one the impression he was the best pitcher last year in the Northern League.

Walker, who will graduate from the University of Alabama in May with a degree in graphic design (minor in computer science), earned NL Pitcher of the Year honours for 2009 and was also named by Baseball America to its All-Independent Second Team.

After going 9-4 with a 4.45 earned run average in 2008, Walker was lights out in 2009. He led the NL with 12 wins (12-6) and his ERA dropped to 3.32. Although he had essentially the same number of appearances as he had in 2008, Walker’s earned run total dropped from 60 to 55 in 2009 and his innings pitched rose from 121.1 to 149.0. He also led the league in complete games with six and was second in innings pitched.

But why? Why was Walker good in 2008, but spectacular in 2009?

“I think it’s about the people Rick (manager Forney) put around us – all of us, the entire pitching staff,” Walker said. “Our defence definitely made the difference for me. I pitch to contact. I give up a lot of ground balls and if you constructed a spray chart for all balls hit off me in 2008 and all the balls hit off me in 2009, you’d see that about 20 fewer balls got through the infield last year than they did the year before. That’s 20 more outs and that’s really important over the length of a season.

“And if you looked at the balls that got through the holes in 2008 and then looked at the same positions in 2009, you’d see a big improvement. Our defence was much better in 2009 than it was 2008.”

As most Goldeyes fans know, Walker is a gifted artist that painted the large “Fightin’ Goldeye” behind the plate last year with a few cans of spray paint and a remarkable eye for detail.

This year, he’ll probably report to training camp a day or two late because graduation takes place on May 6. He’ll have a degree to go with his awesome artistic talent.

“It’s also a great place to be because we have an amazing rec centre (at Alabama) with an indoor track, a great weight room and plenty of space to throw,” he said. “I’m going to start throwing here any day and I’ll be ready for camp.”

One reason Walker will be ready is how excited he is about the look of the 2010 Goldeyes.

“It’s scary to me how good we’re going to be,” Walker said. “Adding Aharon (Eggleston) in centre field? Wow! We’ll have Aharon in centre, Cory Patton in right and Dee (Brown) in left: That’s three guys who can go and get it. Aharon will make the other two guys even better than they are now.

“We probably should have won it last year, but it wasn’t to be. I know I’m excited about our chances this year. The entire core of the team is coming back. I think we’re going to be really good.”