Former Arizona Wildcats pitchers Cam Walty and Jackson Kent reach Triple-A
Jackson Kent is already starting in Triple-A Rochester, while Cam Walty jumped from High-A Lake County to Columbus after a sharp June bullpen run.
Two members of Arizona’s 2024 weekend rotation are now in Triple-A, and Jackson Kent looks like the one closest to forcing a big-league decision. Kent is already working out of the Rochester Red Wings’ rotation for the Washington Nationals, while Cam Walty has moved from High-A Lake County to the Columbus Clippers after the Cleveland Guardians promoted him on Friday, July 10.
Kent has spent this season handling the toughest workload of the pair. By July 11, he had made nine starts for Rochester and was 5-3 with a 5.02 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 15 walks in 43 innings. Washington took him in the fourth round of the 2024 MLB Draft, 108th overall, after he logged 15 starts for Arizona in 2024 and posted a 4.08 ERA with 89 strikeouts in 86 innings.
Walty’s climb has been faster and more unusual. Cleveland selected him in the 20th round, 595th overall, but he reached Triple-A less than two years later after working as a reliever at Lake County. In 19 games for the Captains, he went 3-1 with a 5.54 ERA, 37 strikeouts and 14 walks in 37.1 innings. His recent push came June 23-28, when Lake County named him its Captains of the Week after he struck out eight and did not allow an earned run across 4.2 relief innings in two outings.
The Arizona connection gives the parallel promotions extra weight. Kent, Clark Candiotti and Walty formed the Wildcats’ weekend rotation in 2024, and Arizona Athletics said all three earned Pac-12 All-Conference honors, believed to be the first time in program history that three starting pitchers received that recognition. The pro ladder has split their paths since Tucson: Kent has stayed on a starter track, while Walty’s move to the bullpen has given him a quicker route upward.
The college numbers still help explain why both organizations advanced them. Kent went 3-4 with a 4.08 ERA and 89 strikeouts in 86 innings for Arizona, while Walty finished 2024 at 8-2 with a 3.29 ERA and 75 strikeouts in 90.1 innings. Kent’s present job in Rochester makes him the likelier next call if Washington needs rotation help, but Walty’s rise from a 595th overall pick to Triple-A Columbus adds another sharp argument for how ready Arizona’s 2024 staff was when it left Tucson.
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