Tampa Bay Rays acquire RHP Jeremy Walker from San Francisco Giants

The Tampa Bay Rays were active on the eve of the 2022 trade deadline making several moves, some of which may serve as a preamble to their activities leading up to the 6pm deadline today, on August 2nd.

After acquiring LHP Garret Cleavinger and OF Jose Siri and designating OF Brett Phillips and RHP Luke Bard for assignment, plus trading away a trio of minor leaguers (OF German Tapie, RHP Seth Johnson, and RHP Jayden Murray), the Rays traded C/INF Luke Proctor to the San Francisco Giants for RHP Jeremy Walker.

The move could be significant for the Rays due to Proctor’s presence on the 40-man roster; Walker is not on the 40-man roster.

Proctor was the Rays 3rd round selection in the 2018 draft and ever since then, the Rays have worked on transitioning him from being an infielder to serving as a backstop. All the while, he hasn’t been the greatest hitter at the plate but has always excelled at getting on base, leading him to be an above-average offensive player.

Thus far in 2022, he is hitting .213/.329/.306 with 6 HR over 79 games played, spending the bulk of his time behind the plate while mixing in some time in the middle infield. He was added to the Rays' 40-man roster this past November.

Walker was a non-roster invite for the Giants this Spring and he has pitched the entire season thus far in Triple-A with less than desirable results. Over 28 outings, he has a 6.88 ERA / 5.10 FIP with a 23.2 K% and 9.1 BB% over 35 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched. His lone experience in the big leagues came during the 2019 season while as a member of the Atlanta Braves; he allowed 2 runs over 9 ¹⁄₃ innings pitched across 6 appearances.