3B Jordan Walker, Decatur HS [GA]
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DoB: 5/22/2002. B/T: R/R
Commitment: Duke
The Atlanta area tends to be a great one for high school talent, producing thirteen top-40 picks in the last eight drafts, and that's not counting Vanderbilt star and potential 2021 first overall pick Kumar Rocker. The 2020 class isn't as deep here, as Jordan Walker is the only Atlanta-area native, high school or college, with more than an outside chance at going in the top fifty picks. He's certainly a good one to represent the ATL though, drawing comparisons to 2019 second rounder Rece Hinds with some of the best raw power in the high school class.
Walker stands 6'5" and generates plus raw power from the right side, and he doesn't need to sell out to get to it. He's also trending in the right direction with his hit tool, as he employs a disciplined, rational approach at the plate that you don't always see in high school sluggers. However, because he's still growing into his body, there is still some swing and miss in his game that you won't see in those true-first round high school bats above him. That puts considerable risk into his profile, though again, the he has been making progress with that part of his game and he was off to a strong start to the spring before the season shut down. Defensively, Walker's strong arm gives him a chance to stick at third base, but he'll need to continue to work there and there's a good chance he has to move to first base.
The prospect of getting a right-right first baseman with hit tool questions rightfully scares a lot of teams in the first round. That said, he's relatively young for the class with a May birthday, and because he's still growing into his body, there is tremendous room for growth in his game as well. A good student set to attend Duke, he's known to have a high baseball IQ and more and more evaluators are confident he'll put it all together. If he's signable, that puts him somewhere in the late first round or comp round. The upside here is a 30-40 home run hitter with solid, walk-driven on-base percentages (see why he's ranked next to Aaron Sabato with the exact same offensive ceiling?), with considerable bust risk present in most high schoolers. He might fit better with a team with multiple early picks due to the boom/bust profile in addition to his likely high price tag.
Batting practice and game action from last June
Game footage from July
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