Walker Janek was once a young baseball player watching a Corpus Christi minor league game. Now his dream of playing for the Hooks has come true. The Gregory-Portland grad is the first Coastal Bend native to be on the Hooks roste r since Brooks Kieschnick in 2005."I used to be the guy in the stands and just dreaming to be on this field," Janek said. "To finally make that dream come true is really pretty awesome." The 23-year-old catcher is coming off a strong Astros spring training. Janek hit a .455 batting average with 3 extra-bast hits and 4 hits in 7 Grapefruit League games."It's an elite talent. It's a plus-base runner, plus-arm, good defender, obviously a good hitter and first round for us," said Hooks second-year manager Ricky Rivera. "The coolest part about Walker is how human he is. You know, how humble and how good of a teammate he is." The Astros' top-5 prospect is working on his bat, but is known for his defense. Last year in single-A Janek threw out 31 percent of would-be-base stealers. To put that stat into perspective, that's nearly 10 percent higher than the Major League average."He's so amazing back there," said Hooks pitcher Trey Dombroski. "It's just the work that goes in off the field, you know and behind the scenes what he does to perfect his craft." 2026 Hooks return experienced Double-A rosterThe Hooks led by second-year skipper Ricky Rivera have a 28-man roster, returning 22 players including 12 of their 16 pitchers. Corpus Christi's top prospect on the mound is Astros minor league pitcher of the year Bryce Mayer. He'll be joined by James Hicks, Jackson Nezuh and last season's Hooks pitcher of the year Trey Dombroski."Last year I think I just did a good job of limiting hard contact and you know keeping guys off balance," Dombroski said. "This year an objective for me is to just keep throwing strikes and you know I want to be a better version of myself than I was last year." QA Interview between Sports Director Larissa Liska and Hooks' Walker Janek KRIS 6's Larissa Liska interviews Hooks catcher Walker Janek, a Gregory-Portland grad, before MiLB opening dayLARISSA: Walker, thanks so much. What age did you go to your first Hooks game, and was this a place you always imagined playing?WALKER: Yes, so I, I mean, I was probably. 7 or 8 years-old, I know I have a picture at my parent's house of me, my grandpa and my dad at the one of the little statues out front, and then I actually played in the backfield. I was probably 8 or 9, so to be back here it's pretty cool.LARISSA: What was that feeling like for you? Was, was today the first day walking back in here or did y'all come back yesterday?WALKER: The first time was today I got here on the field. I walked in through a different gate than I usually do, so it's pretty cool. Then to finally get on the field and see it, it's definitely been a while. This place is kind of unrecognizable with the new bridge and all that stuff, but, it's super special, cool feeling.LARISSA: You had a great spring training. We know you can hit the ball, but it's your defense that's your bread and butter. What do you feel like you've done really well since graduating from college that has helped you get to this level?WALKER: I mean. I just try to be super consistent in all my work, and then picking up little things here and there, especially with big league coaches, professional coaches. It's been a lot of help. Then just kind of mastering my game. Obviously I'm not where I want to be, at my game level, but it's come a long way for sure.LARISSA: What's something you've really worked on, especially with like pick offs and stuff like that too? Is there a player that you looked up TO, to help you with that?WALKER: I mean, I would say not a specific player, but I mean I watch a lot. I used to watch a lot of baseball and try to mimic people. It's always been my thing when I was younger. I mean as you play the game, the more and more you play, you know the situations on when to pick off and all that kind of stuff and it kind of just falls in.LARISSA: What does it mean for you to be the first Coastal Bend player back here since Brooke Kieschnick in 2005?WALKER: It's, it's pretty cool. It's really special. Like I was saying earlier, as soon as I got here, I felt like an overwhelming amount of comfortability playing here. I played here growing up my whole life, and to be back in South Texas is pretty awesome.LARISSA: What's it been like for your family as well?WALKER: They're always telling me how excited they are to come to the games and watch me play back home and super excited for them and super excited for me also. Just to be back home is pretty special.LARISSA: You being a catcher, I think I saw 12 of 16 pitchers are returning. How have you felt like you've built connections in spring training or earlier as we go into opening day?WALKER: A lot of the guys in our squad this year I've caught in the Minor Leagues and I have a pretty high level of comfortability with all these guys. I think it'll be a pretty fun season.LARISSA: Is this (9) the number you're gonna be wearing or no?WALKER: It's not. It's 3, and I didn't have my jersey yet, so I had to borrow for number 3.LARISSA: What do you think that feeling will be like on opening day?WALKER: I mean, it's going to be for me personally pretty special. I mean, like you said earlier, I grew up coming to these games. I, used to be the guy in the stands and just dreaming of being on this field. To finally make that dream come true is going be pretty awesome.LARISSA: Anything else you want to tell the fans of Corpus Christi?WALKER: I'm super excited to be here. I mean, South Texas is very special to me, very dear to me, and I'm really excited to play. https://www.facebook.com/LarissaLiskaTV/posts/pfbid02FbuEGugwxpyy6XoDQPEnddqqKXKoX9YHo7mimmmNPkQM2ZBUsXGAPdcuMLqamXjZl ...read more read less