Taylor Walls SS

Walls' contract was purchased by the Rays on Friday, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Walls is a classic Rays player, as he is known for his control of the strike zone and ability to play multiple infield positions. He has not played above Double-A, but after a summer at the alternate training site, he is presumably poised to make his MLB debut sometime in 2021.

Walls is expected to be named to the Rays' 60-man roster pool, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Walls earned an invite to big-league camp but went 2-for-19 before the suspension of spring training. The 24-year-old spent most of 2019 at Double-A Montgomery and had an .825 OPS with six homers, 42 runs scored and 15 stolen bases in 55 games.

Walls hit just .105 (2-for-19) with one RBI, three walks and two runs over 13 Grapefruit League games before spring training was suspended.

Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports Walls remains one of the organization's top prospects, but he clearly still has a ways to go before his bat is up to the task of holding its own against big-league arms. Walls began 2019 at High-A Charlotte before finishing the campaign at Double-A Montgomery, slashing a solid .270/.346/.479 at the latter stop. It's likely he kicks off 2020 with a return to the Biscuits before potentially bumping up to Triple-A Durham if his performance warrants it.

Walls was invited to the Rays' major-league spring training Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Walls was promoted to Double-A Montgomery in 2019, posting a .270/.346/.479 slash line with six home runs and 15 stolen bases over 55 games at the Double-A level. In total, the 23-year-old had 10 home runs and 28 stolen bases between the High-A level and Double-A level last season. He'll now get the chance to work with the Rays' major-league coaching staff, but he'll likely still begin 2020 in the minors as he looks to boost his resume against tougher competition.

Walls was promoted to Double-A Montgomery on Sunday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Walls was slashing .269/.339/.417 across 180 plate appearances with High-A Charlotte, a line that partly consists of 13 extra-base hits (seven doubles, two triples, four home runs) and 26 RBI. The 22-year-old shortstop is likely to spend the remainder of the season with the Biscuits, his fourth stop in the Rays organization since being selected in the first-year player draft back in 2017.

Walls has gone 4-for-10 with a home run, five RBI and two strikeouts in three games for High-A Charlotte since his return from the injured list.

A quadriceps injury delayed Walls' start to the season, and he only made it through four games upon his return in April before he was right back on the shelf. Thankfully, with the way he's been swinging the bat in recent days, the 22-year-old now seems to be healthy and back to full strength. He projects as a utility infielder long term.

Walls (quadriceps) is being held back in extended spring training, Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com reports.

He suffered a quad injury in spring training and could miss roughly the first month of the minor-league season. Walls hit .304/.393/.428 with six homers and 31 steals at Low-A last year, but it's worth noting that was his age-21/22 season, so he was pretty old for the level. Once healthy, he should be assigned to High-A.