Astros sign Christian Walker

The key word there is 'if'...

 

The contact is loud and I am thinking this turns around. He finishes .240 20 HRS 90 RBI

 

Yah...if he doesnt keep striking out first.

 

Yep, and we won't know until later so why worry?

You think players are just fine with slumps and do nothing about them?

 

This far into the season, it can no longer be said that Walker is having "bad luck" --- there is definitely a drop off on the bat speed and his ability to consistently put the ball in play, especially with runners on base. He is not the only Astro to have this problem. "If" he gets out of the slump, it would definitely be beneficial to the team and the overall record as he bats in the heart of the lineup.

Where did I say players are fine with slumps and do nothing? I'm sure Walker is just as frustrated as the fans are, and perhaps even more. I'm sure he's putting in time in the cages to get back on track --- but it's not translating onto the field.

The Astros signed Christian Walker to be the same player he was in Arizona, and we have yet to see that guy offensively. It would be great if that guy showed up sooner rather than later.

 

His bat speed is still elite and his whiff % is pretty much in line with previous years - the problem is he has chased pitches out of the zone at a significantly higher rate this season.

 

They just said on 97.5 today his bat speed has not decreased. Where did you see that?

 

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/christian-walker-572233?stats=statcast-r-bat_tracking-mlb

75
75
74.1

 

Christian Walker needs to move down to 8th.

 

Caratini and Dubon should play every game.

Chas McCormick and Brendan Rodgers should not be on the Astros. AAA players call-ups are needed for a opportunity.

 

SS Pena
3B Parades
LF Altuve
C Diaz
DH Caratini
CF Myers
RF Smith
1B Walker
2B Dubon

 

Q

 

Let's give Walker a couple of days off and give ZD two starts at 1B. Maybe good for both of them.

 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/christian-walker-hasnt-fixed-the-astros-first-base-problem/

Deep dive on Walker. My takeaways:

He has lost a small amount of bat speed, possibly due to age related decline. That is causing him not to be as good at hitting 4S FB. That is very worrisome, but it only represents a fraction of the cause of his poor performance. Still, we should not expect Walker to be as good as he was with Arizona (or as bad as he’s been so far with Houston).

He is suffering from the lack of lefties Houston has faced. Adding another lefthanded bat to the lineup (and getting Yordan back) would entice other teams to throw more lefties and that would give Walker a boost. (Arizona’s lineup always had 3-4 LHB minimum during his time there.)

His swing decisions have gotten worse. This represents the largest cause of his struggles. My speculation is that he started pressing because of how much pressure he was putting on himself, which only got worse as he struggled more. Hopefully this is something he corrects soon.

He has had some bad luck on batted balls. That should naturally correct itself.

If Yordan comes back next week and is effective, then June should be a much better indicator of how good Walker will be over the rest of the season, as Walker will benefit from Alvarez’s lineup protection and also June is where Astros have a stretch of weaker opponents.

Everyday lineup I’d like to see when Alvarez comes back:

SS Pena
3B Paredes
LF/2B Altuve
DH Alvarez
1B Walker
C Diaz (with Caratini pinch hitting and playing a lot)
CF Meyers
RF Smith
2B/LF Dubon/Dezenzo

 

This is well done.

The biggest fear I have is that Yordan is a force vs Lefties which SHOULD ( we have seen different) keep managers from bringing in lefties. This takes away one of the hopes that could benefit Christian.

The solution could be adding another veteran bat that other teams must account for. Hitting Walker behind Alvarez and then a guy like Brandon Lowe or maybe Gavin Lux behind him should benefit him.

But the team may benefit from hitting him further down, regardless.

Maybe something like

Pena
Paredes
Altuve
Yordan
Diaz
B.Lowe
Walker
Melton ( or Meyers w/ Melton on the bench)
Smith.

Then Walker still has LH batters before and after him (or a viable LH pinch hitter on the bench after him) that could coax a manager to bring in a lefty from the bullpen.

 

Christian Walker .202 avg .268 obp .332 slug .599 ops, batting 4th

 

Luis Baez and Jacob Melton callup

Chas McCormick and Brendan Rodgers please move on.

Thank You Chas for contributing in the World Series, great catch. Astros need to move on.

 

This guy strikes out too much. Why is he constantly 4th in the lineup?

 

"Manager's decision"