A Christian Walker turnaround can change Astros' trade deadline priorities

New York Times

a day ago

HOUSTON — An answer to the Houston Astros' most apparent need is already in their clubhouse. He switched lockers some time last month, hoping to harness a sliver of luck amid an otherwise subpar season.
Christian Walker went 8-for-42 across his next 12 games, negating whatever nirvana the superstition may have spurred. He averaged at least a 96.5 exit velocity during eight of those 12 contests, continuing a confluence of poor luck and putrid results.
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'Sometimes it can get really frustrating when you don't get your hits,' manager Joe Espada said. 'You see other players (get) end-of-the-bat knocks, and they get lucky on some of these balls. You as a hitter, you're like, 'Man, I'm doing everything I can to put the barrel on the ball and they're not falling for me.''
Few aspects of Walker's horrific start have been more frustrating. Stretches of three or four games have offered hope for a turnaround, only for the subsequent seven or eight to erase all momentum. For instance, he had a three-RBI game on May 11, only to follow it with a 5-for-47 funk.
So, assign proper perspective to Walker's first four-RBI game as an Astro on Wednesday night. The beleaguered first baseman broke out of a brutal slump in a season full of them, spearheading a 10-2 shellacking of the Chicago White Sox with his first three-hit game since May 25.
ALL-STAR SMASH.#VoteWalker ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHQMR1 pic.twitter.com/DDzNOvnsXt
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Walker's performance raised his OPS to .653. He hasn't had a higher one since that aforementioned outburst on May 11. The anemia that followed is the story of Walker's season. Whether he can avoid it is the Astros' most pertinent question.
Parlaying a performance like Wednesday into something more sustainable would crystallize the club's focus toward the July 31 trade deadline. A left-handed hitter and starting pitcher sit atop the Astros' wish list, but any prolonged success from Walker may alter their priorities.
The development would lessen Houston's urgency to address a lineup still missing Yordan Alvarez, its most potent left-handed threat. Alvarez's return — whenever it arrives — already represents a pseudo-deadline acquisition, but pairing him with a well-performing Walker would be a permutation Houston hasn't yet seen this season.
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'The nature of the at-bats — taking good pitches, swinging at good pitches — I feel good,' Walker said. 'I'm happy with how competitive I feel in the box right now.'
Walker still awoke Wednesday with a .623 OPS. Of the 17 qualified major-league hitters with a lower one, only Michael Harris III and Willy Adames had taken more plate appearances. Of the 27 players worth fewer wins above replacement, just Kansas City Royals catcher Salvador Perez had played more than Walker.
Like Perez, Walker has salary, service time and status as a respected veteran that afford an almost endless runway to correct whatever ails him. Houston's lack of other options only widens it.
Walker will start at first base and slot somewhere in the middle of the Astros' order regardless of what the club does during the trade deadline. Espada slid Walker to the five-hole before the series opener against the White Sox on Tuesday. In 147 plate appearances as the cleanup hitter, Walker slugged .296.
'It's trusting the process and having the confidence that, at some point, this is going to turn,' Espada said. 'He knows this tide will turn for him.'
Finding better fortune is a factor, but Walker still boasts his highest chase rate, whiff rate and strikeout rate of the past four seasons. He entered Monday with a .208 batting average and, according to Statcast, a .243 expected batting average. Forty-three of Walker's 74 strikeouts have come with a runner on base, problematic for an offense that has scored the sport's seventh-fewest runs.
Whether a wholesale turnaround from Walker and full health from Alvarez will fix that is what general manager Dana Brown must ponder over the next seven weeks.
Even if both of those circumstances come to pass, a left-handed bench bat or outfield platoon partner would be beneficial for an imbalanced roster. Either would profile as cheaper for an Astros team short on tradeable assets. Focusing the few they have on fortifying a pitching staff staggered by injuries is another byproduct of Walker's potential renaissance.
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Gauging whether one is looming is difficult. Hammering a hanging slider for a two-run home run during Wednesday's first inning ignited the dugout, but it should be standard for someone of Walker's caliber.
A more telling sequence came two frames later. Four-seam fastballs have flummoxed the first baseman all season, strange for a player who produced a run value of nine against the pitch last year, according to Baseball Savant.
Walker entered Wednesday with a minus-1 run value against the pitch. His .203 batting average against them was 43 points lower than last season and 79 away from the career-best mark he established in 2023.
Opponents are aware and attempting to seize advantage. During the third inning, White Sox starter Sean Burke believed he did. Walker waved through one of his elevated four-seamers to even the count at 1.
'It's something we're working on for sure, but it's hard to plan for that,' Walker said. 'You start looking at the top and you get your hanger and you miss it because you're looking for something else.'
Drivin' in the runs. #VoteWalker ⭐️ https://t.co/W06pfHQMR1 pic.twitter.com/nHkY0SlMKR
— Houston Astros (@astros) June 12, 2025
Part of Walker's work to remedy the problem involves 'maybe daring guys to go up there,' reasoning that 'if they miss a spot two inches, three inches lower, now we're talking about a ball that can get hit 107, 108 (mph).'
Burke did. The 1-1 four-seamer he threw grazed the top rail of Walker's strike zone. He struck it 106 mph into the left-center field gap. Two runs came home.
'It felt good to turn that around,' Walker said.