The news was not good for the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, as they announced that left-handed relief pitcher Blake Walston of Wilmington, North Carolina would be out for the entire 2025 Major League Baseball regular season with Tommy John Surgery. This was the second announcement this past week of a Major League Baseball pitcher missing the entire season with Tommy John Surgery. The first was New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole of Tustin, California.
Walston in 2024
This past season in 2024, Walston pitched seven games for the Diamondbacks as a Major League Baseball rookie. During 18 1/3 innings pitched, he had a record of one win and zero losses with an earned run average of 4.42. Walston gave up 16 hits, nine earned runs, four home runs and 10 walks, to go along with 18 strikeouts, and a WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 1.42.
Walston’s win in 2024
On September 15, Walston got the win in a high-scoring 11-10 Diamondbacks win over the Milwaukee Brewers. He pitched a third of an inning and had one strikeout, where he fanned Brewers shortstop Willy Adames of Santiago, Dominican Republic in the top of the 10th inning with two out. Walston threw seven pitches of which he threw four strikes. Adames meanwhile is now with the San Francisco Giants.
First Round Pick
Walston was selected in the first round, 26th overall, in the 2016 MLB Amateur Draft. He played his high school baseball at New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina. While playing at the high school level, he threw a no-hitter, and had sensational statistics. He posted a record of 13 wins and zero losses with an earned run average of 0.76 and 137 strikeouts in only 75 1/3 innings of work. At the end of the season, Walston received the honour as the North Carolina Gatorade Baseball Player of the Year. He chose to play professional baseball rather than attend North Carolina State University.
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