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Astros first-round pick's gutty injury history makes him perfect for Houston

Houston's top pick in this year's draft played through an injury without issue that would have sidelined most players for weeks, if not longer.
Eric Cole
Eric Cole

Climbing Tal's Hill

May 26, 2023; Mesa, AZ, USA; Sam Houston Bearkats' Walker Janek (3) celebrates his 3-run home run against the GCU Lopes during their WAC Tournament game at Hohokam Stadium. / Joe Rondone/The Republic / USA TODAY

The most important attribute that any player selected by the Houston Astros in the 2024 MLB Draft, can have is availability. No amount of baseball talent can offset staying in shape and healthy enough to play -- and play well every time you are called upon. One player that has taken that to the next level is the Astros' first round pick, Walker Janek.

Picking Janek was a pretty straightforward thought process. Quality catchers are extremely hard to come by, and with Janek among the top two or three catchers in this draft class and still sitting there at the bottom of the first round, Houston wasted little time in adding him to their organization.

As an added bonus for picking him, it appears as though Janek is one of those prototypical catchers that will play through just about anything. Don't believe us? In 2023, Janek reportedly got speared through his finger by a spike and just played through it anyways.

Won the WAC Tourney MVP at the end of it, too.

Astros first round pick Walker Janek is just built different than normal humans

Janek has to be very familiar to the Astros, as he went to the nearby Sam Houston State. There, his college coaches have spoken about Janek with a reverence rarely heard from their ilk. Part of Janek's lore was that during the 2023 season, a cleat spike went THROUGH HIS PINKY FINGER and he didn't miss a beat and remained the team's best player. Most of us mere mortals would have called it a season on the spot, and he went on to post a .926 OPS that season.

Catcher is just such a unique position that has very particular physical demands required from those who play it. Those guys get beat up by foul balls, errant pitches, and plays at the plate every single game and have to get up, dust themselves off, and get right back to work. That means toughness is basically a pre-requisite for the job.

Not only did the Astros get arguably the best catcher in the draft class in Janek, but he has a proven track record of toughness that is beyond reproach. He will still have to perform in the minors and learn how to handle a professional pitching staff, but there is a lot to work with for Houston here.

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Eric Cole

Eric Cole

I started my career writing about baseball covering the Atlanta Braves for SB Nation's Talking Chop back in 2015 which has since been renamed Battery Power. After years of writing for those fine folks, I made the decision to take over as Site Expert at House That Hank Built before becoming a full-time MLB Staff Writer for FanSided in 2023. Along the way, I have been a guest on multiple ESPN radio affiliates as well as 680 The Fan and 92.9 The Game to discuss Braves baseball and especially Braves prospects and was a long-time host on the Battery Power podcast. These days, I continue to write about the Braves as well as covering the Astros, Padres, and Angels with particular expertise with minor league coverage, the MLB Draft, and bashing Anthony Rendon when possible. When I am not writing about or talking about baseball (which is seldom), I am an avid baseball card collector (Maddux and Soroka being my primary personal collections) and I also collect shark teeth. All other sports are mostly dead to me as my Bills have broken my heart too many times.