Blake Walston

Matthew Blake Walston

• Bats Left, Throws Left
• Height 6' 5", Weight 175 lb.
• High School New Hanover High School
• Debut May 1, 2024

• Born June 28, 2001 in Wilmington, NC USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Pitcher Blake Walston was the second player selected by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 2019 amateur draft, with the 26th overall pick. The pick was compensation for the D-Backs' failure to sign their first pick in the 1st round of the 2018 amateur draft, Matt McLain, and came after they had selected OF Corbin Carroll with their regular pick, at #16. Walston was coming straight out of high school, having pitched and also starred as a quarterback for New Hanover High School in his hometown of Wilmington, NC before being drafted. He gave up a commitment to attend North Carolina State University in order to sign with Arizona.

He began his professional career in 2019 with 3 games each for the AZL Diamondbacks and the Hillsboro Hops of the Northwest League, for a total of 11 innings. He did well in that limited audition, with 17 Ks and just 2 walks and 8 hits allowed. After being forced to sit out the 2020 season by the COVID-19 pandemic that shut down the minor leagues, he returned to action in 2021. He started out with the Visalia Rawhide of the Low-A West and then returned to Hillsboro, by which time the team had been raised two levels to the High-A West. Between the two stops, he went 4-5, 3.76 with 117 strikeouts in 95 2/3 innings and generally having the kind of season a top prospect of his ilk would be expected to have at that stage of his career.

Walston followed his break-out with two more good seasons in the minors in 2022 and 2023. The first year, he went a combined 8-3, 4.79 between Hillsboro and the Amarillo Sod Poodles of the Texas League, with 137 strikeouts in 124 innings. In 2023, he was promoted to the AAA Pacific Coast League with the Reno Aces and went 12-6, 4.52 in 30 starts, although he saw his strikeout rate fall significantly, to 104 in 149 1/3 innings in a home ballpark that's not particularly favorable to pitchers, to say the least.

He made his major league debut for the Diamondbacks on May 1, 2024, pitching 3 2/3 innings in relief of Jordan Montgomery in an 8-0 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers, giving up 2 runs on 3 hits and 4 walks. He had started the season back at Reno, going 1-0, 4.79 in 5 games before being called up.

Related Sites

• Blake Walston on mlb.com
• BR Minors page