GARY, Ind. — Add another RailCats pitcher to the road to the big leagues.  Hard-throwing left-hander Edwin Walker has been sold to the New York Yankees where he will report to the Charleston RiverDogs (A) of the South Atlantic League, the team announced today.

Walker, 25, becomes the 19th RailCats player – and ninth pitcher – sold to a major league organization since 2002.  The Texan returns to the affiliated minor leagues after spending the first three seasons of his professional career (2002-04) with a pair of Milwaukee Brewers farm teams.  The Brewers first drafted Walker in the ninth round in 2002 out of Highlands High School in San Antonio.

This season, Walker has been one of the best arms in an excellent RailCats bullpen, posting a 3.26 ERA in 19.1 innings and striking out a whopping 29 hitters.  Walker picked up three saves in 16 outings, going 3-0 and holding opposing hitters to just a .194 average.  Fargo-Moorhead was the only team in the Northern League to score runs off Walker in 2009, tagging the left-hander in three different appearances, otherwise Walker threw 18.0 scoreless innings against the league’s other four teams.  Walker gave up only 14 hits – eight in three outings vs. Fargo – and walked ten.

Walker was signed by the RailCats in April of this year after a fine season with the Chillicothe Paints of the Frontier League in 2008, when he carried a 1.79 ERA and struck out 51 in 45.1 innings to earn a spot in the league’s midseason All-Star Game.  Walker also played briefly in 2006 with the United League’s San Angelo Colts.   In six professional seasons, Walker has 189 strikeouts in 181.0 career innings and a 4.08 ERA.

Two former RailCats – pitcher Tim Byrdak and outfielder Nathan Haynes – have played in the major leagues since leaving Gary.  Byrdak, another southpaw pitcher, has spent the last five seasons in the major leagues and is 1-1 with a 3.55 ERA this summer for the Houston Astros.

Walker is the first RailCat sold to a major league team since 2008 Northern League Player of the Year Tanner Townsend was sold to the Florida Marlins in December.  Chad Blackwell was the last RailCats pitcher sold, leaving the ‘Cats for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2007 season.

The entire RailCats organization congratulates Walker on this opportunity and wishes him the best of luck in pursuing his major league dream.

RAILCATS SOLD TO MLB ORGANIZATIONS