Meet The New Guys: Walker Lockett

The Blue Jays recently picked up some additional pitching depth in 26 year old right hander Walker Lockett, a waiver wire acquisition from the Seattle Mariners. The former fourth round draft pick has pitched in 20 games over the last three seasons, 8 of which were starts. After having made his debut in 2018 with his draft team — the Padres — Lockett would pitch for the Mets in 2019, and the first half of 2020 before finishing the season with the Mariners.

As a major league pitcher Lockett has found little to no success. His career best ERA came in 2020, where he pitched to a 4.96 ERA alongside a 1.531 WHIP. For his career totals he holds a 7.67 ERA with a 1.778 WHIP. His minor league totals aren’t much better, other than his 2019 season in AAA, which could have been one of the major factors for the Jays. In 11 games (10 starts) at AAA in 2019 Lockett pitched to a strong 3.66 ERA, which likely comes from his significantly improved HR/9, which sat at 0.8, the lowest rate he has put up since his single A days in 2016. At the major league level in 2020 Lockett managed to maintain that level of success, allowing 1.1 HR/9 compared to 2.4 and 2.4 in 2018 and 2019. With both Toronto and Buffalo considered hitters parks, the Jays have long been known to pursue pitchers who can limit the long ball.

Lockett’s success can largely be attributed to his strong sinker, a pitch found to be very valuable in hitters' ballparks. In 2020 Lockett’s sinker usage rate spiked up 22.6% from 2019. Hitters only barreled up his pitches 3.6% of the time compared to 8.8% and 11.1% in 2018 and 2019. His hard hit percentage also dropped from 40.7% to 33.8% to 28.6%, showing even more improvement. He also experienced career bests in the following critical advanced metrics: WOBA, BB%, and chase %.

Lockett isn’t a big addition for the Jays, but he could find himself on the roster next season. Sam Gaviglio is a free agent, and Wilmer Font left for the KBO, so Lockett could be in contention to take a long relief/starting depth role, if he makes it through the offseason. After having taken the final open spot on the 40 man roster, the Blue Jays will have to make some cuts once they sign some bigger names, and Lockett could very well be one of those cuts.