When Donnie Walton stood at second base in Seattle for one inning on September 10th, he made history. Becoming the record 65th different player in one season to put on a Mariners uniform isn’t exactly the most prestigious honor, but for Walton, it represented a culmination of a big year, with more hopefully to come.
Walton was plucked out of Oklahoma State after his senior year in the fifth round of the 2016 draft, and is just the second position player drafted under Jerry Dipoto to reach the bigs so far. He’s followed a pretty standard route through the minors, breaking in with a nice showing at Everett in 2016 before skipping Clinton for Modesto the following season.