might be time
Gotta wonder if the St. Louis Cardinals are beginning to ponder a change – from hitter to pitcher — for Walker Robbins, their fifth-round draft pick in 2016. Currently playing in the short-season Class A New York-Penn League, the former George County High star is batting .123 with three extra-base hits in 19 games. He hit .174 last year in the rookie Appalachian League and .185 in the Gulf Coast League in 2016. He has a grand total of two home runs in 305 pro at-bats. Robbins, a 6-foot-3, 215-pound left-hander, was a two-way star in high school. He hit .477 as a senior and posted a 0.67 ERA with two no-hitters. A Mississippi State signee, he planned to hit and pitch for the Bulldogs. Robbins was generally considered the top prep prospect in Mississippi heading into the 2016 draft, with some speculation he’d go in the first round. St. Louis signed him as a hitter and moved him from first base to the outfield. That transition seems to have gone fairly smoothly, but his bat just has not taken off. Robbins, still only 20 years old, said in an off-season interview with the Biloxi Sun-Herald that he wants to hit but would be fine with a move to the mound. Stay tuned.