Orioles make roster move official, select Walker's contract

By Roch Kubatko

Orioles

September 17, 2014, 10:40am

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The Orioles announced this afternoon that they selected the contract of first baseman Christian Walker from Triple-A Norfolk. It's official. Walker will wear No. 18, which still reminds me of first baseman Jeff Conine. Walker, 23, was named the 2014 Brooks Robinson minor league Player of the Year after hitting a combined .288/.357/.489 with 53 extra-base hits, 96 RBIs and 73 runs scored in 139 total games with Double-A Bowie (.301/.367/.516 in 95 games) and Norfolk (.259/.335/.428 in 44 games). He led all Orioles minor leaguers in home runs (26) and RBIs (96) in 2014. Walker was named the first baseman for the 2014 Eastern League season-ending All-Star team after ranking second in RBIs (77), third in slugging (.516) and sixth in average (.301). Not bad for a guy who was moved up a level in July. Walker also was named the Eastern League's Player of the Week twice for the weeks ending April 20 and May 18. Walker was originally selected by the Orioles in the fourth round of the 2012 First-Year Player Draft out of the University of South Carolina. Will Walker be included in tonight's lineup? Stay tuned. With this move, the Orioles' 40-man roster is full.