Taylor Walls

Taylor Walls

26-Year-Old ShortstopSS
Tampa Bay Rays
2023 Fantasy Outlook
Walls came up through the Rays system with the reputation as an elite defender as well as someone with a discernable eye at the plate willing to accept his walks and use his speed on the bases. The willingness to accept walks, the defense and steals have carried over to the major league level but little else. Walls has been a well below-average offensive player in nearly 650 major league plate appearances with a career .182/.281/.288 triple-slash line. The double-digit walk rate allowed him to steal 10 bags, but he also now holds the record for the lowest OBP in a single season for a player with at least 50 walks in a season (2022 Joey Gallo is 2nd.) His defense keeps him in the lineup nearly everyday, and his speed is a fantasy asset, but that is the only area where you can legitimately expect fantasy value while he likely hits 9th in the lineup until his bat shows some kind of life as even his xBA's on all pitch types are barely over the Mendoza line. This is the type of player you let someone else roster and tip your cap to them if it pans out. Read Past Outlooks
RANKSFrom Preseason
#583
ADP
$Signed a one-year contract with the Rays in March of 2023.
Tallies 15th stolen base
SSTampa Bay Rays
June 1, 2023
Walls went 0-for-2 with two walks, a run scored and a stolen base Wednesday against the Cubs.
ANALYSIS
Walls got a rare start at shortstop with Wander Franco (shoulder) sidelined, though he has been a regular in the lineup playing both second and third base. He tallied his 15th stolen base of the season Wednesday, six of which have come in his last five starts. Walls' primary path to fantasy value is his speed, though he also has 29 runs scored across 44 games, aided by a strong .349 on-base percentage.
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Batting Stats
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2023
2022
2021
2020
2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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2020 MLB Game Log
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Minor League Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
3
12
10
3
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
4
3
2
2
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+11%
OPS vs LHP
2023
 
 
+74%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+5%
OPS vs RHP
2021
 
 
+1%
OPS vs RHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021vs Left .664 248 28 3 23 5 .221 .331 .333
Since 2021vs Right .596 553 70 13 44 24 .180 .278 .317
2023vs Left 1.186 41 10 2 8 2 .389 .463 .722
2023vs Right .681 119 20 5 11 13 .180 .311 .370
2022vs Left .533 137 12 1 9 0 .164 .292 .241
2022vs Right .560 328 41 7 24 10 .175 .258 .302
2021vs Left .607 70 6 0 6 3 .230 .329 .279
2021vs Right .612 106 9 1 9 1 .198 .305 .308
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Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2021
 
 
+20%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+59%
OPS on Road
2022
 
 
+97%
OPS at Home
2021
 
 
+28%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2021Home .677 369 49 9 38 12 .220 .313 .363
Since 2021Away .565 432 49 7 29 17 .169 .278 .287
2023Home .612 73 12 1 3 7 .183 .329 .283
2023Away .973 87 18 6 16 8 .276 .368 .605
2022Home .753 212 31 7 25 3 .245 .322 .431
2022Away .382 253 22 1 8 7 .110 .222 .160
2021Home .534 84 6 1 10 2 .189 .277 .257
2021Away .681 92 9 0 5 2 .231 .348 .333
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Stat Review
How does Taylor Walls compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.56
 
BB Rate
14.4%
 
K Rate
25.6%
 
BABIP
.284
 
ISO
.228
 
AVG
.235
 
OBP
.350
 
SLG
.463
 
OPS
.813
 
wOBA
.358
 
Exit Velocity
88.5 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
23.2%
 
Barrels/PA
3.8%
 
Expected BA
.229
 
Expected SLG
.372
 
Sprint Speed
24.8 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
32.6%
 
Line Drive %
20.0%
 
Fly Ball %
47.4%
 
Prospect Rankings History
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Taylor Walls See More
Top 400 MLB Prospect Rankings Update
3 days ago
James Anderson answers dozens of questions about his updated top 400 prospect rankings, in which Orioles shortstop Jackson Holliday has ascended to the top spot.
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4 days ago
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8 days ago
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10 days ago
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33 days ago
This week, Erik Halterman ranks his biggest risers and fallers according to our earned auction values page, with Arizona starting pitcher Zac Gallen leading off.
Past Fantasy Outlooks
2022
2021
Walls is among a glut of young middle infield talent in the Rays' organization, though he has also played third base while rising through the minors and the early portion of his major-league career. That versatility may help him cut through some of the competition for playing time, particularly because he is regarded as an above-average defender. As for his bat, Walls will be reliant upon his hit tool and speed to produce in the fantasy context. He never hit more than 10 home runs in a full minor-league season, and when his ISO jumped in Double and Triple-A, his strikeout rate followed suit. Even with an elevated strikeout rate, Walls regularly posted an on-base percentage of over .330 - and often well in excess of that mark - thanks to excellent patience at the plate. In combination with his speed, Walls' ability to get on base will be his clearest path to fantasy value. In contrast to his power, there is a track record of Walls posting double-digit stolen bases, and he managed to do so at every level of the minors. The remaining two hurdles are a lack of consistent playing time and some struggles with efficiency on the basepaths, both of which will be keys to monitor his potential production both in 2022 and into the future.
Walls spent the 2020 campaign training at the Rays' alternate site following three minor-league seasons during which he established himself as a steady fielder and patient hitter with plus speed. The 24-year-old isn't likely to hit for much power, but he brings a professional approach to the plate that has thus far resulted in a 12.1 BB% and 18.3 K% in the minors. From a fantasy perspective, Walls' best attribute is probably his above-average speed that he converted into 59 stolen bases in 86 attempts between 2018 and 2019. Tampa Bay protected him from the Rule 5 draft in November, an indication that they see him contributing at the major-league level, perhaps as soon as next season. Once he arrives, Walls could fill a super-utility role, but he may not offer enough in terms of offensive production to excite as a fantasy asset.
More Fantasy News
Off Tuesday
SSTampa Bay Rays
May 30, 2023
Walls isn't starting Tuesday against the Cubs, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
ANALYSIS
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Heads to bench Sunday
SSTampa Bay Rays
May 28, 2023
Walls is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
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Racking up stolen bases
SSTampa Bay Rays
May 27, 2023
Walls went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two stolen bases Friday against the Dodgers.
ANALYSIS
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Adds two more steals
SSTampa Bay Rays
May 25, 2023
Walls went 0-for-3 with a run scored and two steals in Thursday's 6-3 victory over the Blue Jays.
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Picks up two steals in loss
SSTampa Bay Rays
May 18, 2023
Walls went 1-for-5 with a run and two stolen bases Wednesday in an extra-inning loss to the Mets.
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