Christian Walker DVOA, Advanced Stats, & Fantasy Rankings

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker filled the stat sheet in Wednesday's 10-2 win over the visiting Chicago White Sox at Daikin Park, going 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, a double, four RBI, and a strikeout. Walker's ninth home run of the year came in the first inning off of Sean Burke to put the team up 3-0 in the first frame. The Astros are now 8-0 in games in which Walker goes deep. The 34-year-old veteran later extended the team's lead to 5-0 in the third inning by hitting a two-run double. It was Walker's third three-hit game in his first year with the Astros and his first four-RBI game since July 3 of last year with the Arizona Diamondbacks. It was nice to see from his fantasy managers, as Walker came into Wednesday's tilt hitting just .208 on the season. It was his first multi-hit game of June, and he now has nine hits in 34 at-bats over nine games this month.

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker hit a solo home run in Tuesday's 3-0 win over the Pirates. The homer was his eighth of the season, and he's now slashing .212/.276/.369. It's been an extremely disappointing year so far for the veteran, but he may finally be breaking out of the slump. The 34-year-old has hit three home runs in the past seven games, one of which was a three-hit day. The emergence of several young first basemen has sent Walker tumbling down the rankings, but it's too early to give up on him completely. The slugger has put up an average of 34 home runs over a 162-game pace from 2022 and 2024, which makes it worth giving him the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer.

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (hand) is back at first base and is batting cleanup for the Astros in Friday's contest against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays and right-hander Ryan Pepiot at Daikin Park. Walker was pulled from Wednesday's game after being hit on the hand by a pitch and sat out of Thursday's contest, but X-rays on his hand came back negative, and he's ready to go for the weekend against Tampa. The 34-year-old has so far disappointed in his first year with the Astros and has hit .200 with a home run and two RBI in 10 career at-bats against Pepiot. He'll be hoping to turn things around at the plate heading into the month of June after slashing .212/.277/.365 with a .641 OPS, seven homers, 25 RBI and 23 runs scored in his first 203 at-bats. The good news is that positive regression should be coming, as his xBA stands at .247.

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (hand) is not in the team's starting lineup for Thursday's contest against the visiting Tampa Bay Rays at Daikin Park. Catcher Victor Caratini will play first base and bat cleanup against Rays right-hander Shane Baz. Walker wore a pitch off his right hand in Wednesday's game, and although X-rays came back negative, the Astros are giving him at least one day off to heal up. Fantasy managers will need to check back on Friday to see if the 34-year-old right-handed slugger is feeling good enough to play against Tampa. In his first year with Houston, Walker has struggled, hitting only .212 (43-for-203) with seven home runs, 25 RBI and 23 runs scored. He's hit .229 (22-for-96) in 25 games in May with three homers and 16 RBI. Caratini is hitting a career-best .280 but with only three homers. He's hitless in four career at-bats against Baz.UPDATE: Walker took ground balls before the game, and manager Joe Espada said he will also do some hitting. If Walker's hand feels OK after pre-game work, he could be available off the bench on Thursday night.

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (hand) was removed from Wednesday's game early against the division-rival Athletics after he was hit on the right hand with a 96 mph fastball in the fourth inning, according to The Athletic's Chandler Rome. Walker was replaced by pinch-hitter Mauricio Dubon, who took over at first base. The 34-year-old veteran was 0-for-1 in the game with a hit-by-pitch and a run scored before leaving early. The good news is that Walker remained in the game for two innings before being replaced, but we won't know more on the severity of his injury until the team puts him through X-rays. If Walker misses an extended amount of time with his hand injury, Dubon and Yainer Diaz would likely split playing time at first in Houston. Coming into Wednesday's game, Walker was slashing .213/.275/.366 with seven home runs, 25 RBI and 22 runs scored in his first year with the Astros.UPDATE: Walker's X-rays came back negative.