Christian Walker

Christian Walker

33-Year-Old First Baseman1B
 Free Agent  
Free Agent
2024 Stats
AVG
.251
HR
26
RBI
84
R
72
SB
2
Rest-of-Season Projections
AVG
HR
RBI
R
SB
Unlock Our Projections
2024 Fantasy Outlook
Walker's 2023 was mostly a continuance of his 2022 season with the added bonus of double-digit steals despite his 26th percentile sprint speed. He is a great reminder that steals are not just about pure speed. He continued to use his power to all fields for his production while not giving up any of his plate discipline in the process. The improved talent around him also allowed him to hit the 100 RBI plateau for the first time in his career. That said, Walker is at a career crossroads as he is now heading into a contract year as a 33-year old right handed first baseman. You may instantly think of the guy he replaced, Goldschmidt, but not realize that Walker's timeline is three years advanced as Goldy departed Arizona after his age 30 season. We only bring this up for keeper league types because the long term outcome may not be as bright as what Walker could do in what is likely his final year in the desert as we see no reason he cannot continue this current run of production. Read Past Outlooks
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RANKS
Rest of Season
#Subscriber-Only
Overall Rank
#Subscriber-Only
Dynasty
From Preseason
#105
ADP
Bats R
Throws R
40 Man No
Height 6'0"
Weight 210
DOB 3/28/1991
Born Norristown, PA
College South Carolina
Drafted 4th Rd 2012 BAL
$Signed a one-year, $10.9 million contract with the Diamondbacks in January of 2024.
Stiff-arms qualifying offer
1BFree Agent  
November 19, 2024
Walker rejected the Diamondbacks' one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer Tuesday, Mark Feinsand of MLB.com reports.
ANALYSIS
If Walker departs via free agency, the Diamondbacks will be in line to receive a draft pick in return. The veteran first baseman slashed .251/.335/.468 with 26 home runs over 130 contests this season while winning a third straight Gold Glove.
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Batting Stats
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2024
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
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2023 MLB Game Log
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2022 MLB Game Log
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2021 MLB Game Log
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Batting Order Slot Breakdown
vs Right-Handed Pitchers
vs RHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
80
vs Left-Handed Pitchers
vs LHP
#1
#2
#3
#4
#5
#6
#7
#8
#9
1
45
Left/Right Batting Splits
Since 2022
 
 
+5%
OPS vs LHP
2024
 
 
+9%
OPS vs RHP
2023
 
 
+15%
OPS vs LHP
2022
 
 
+7%
OPS vs LHP
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022vs Left .842 480 66 24 79 1 .264 .350 .492
Since 2022vs Right .803 1399 176 71 202 14 .245 .325 .478
2024vs Left .756 157 21 4 26 0 .275 .350 .406
2024vs Right .822 395 51 22 58 2 .240 .329 .493
2023vs Left .922 164 23 13 35 1 .255 .348 .574
2023vs Right .800 496 63 20 68 10 .259 .329 .472
2022vs Left .845 159 22 7 18 0 .261 .352 .493
2022vs Right .791 508 62 29 76 2 .236 .319 .472
More Splits→ View More Split Stats
Home/Away Batting Splits
Since 2022
Even Split
2024
 
 
+3%
OPS at Home
2023
 
 
+10%
OPS at Home
2022
 
 
+14%
OPS on Road
OPS PA R HR RBI SB AVG OBP SLG
Since 2022Home .811 917 120 43 129 5 .248 .337 .474
Since 2022Away .814 962 122 52 152 10 .251 .326 .488
2024Home .815 269 36 12 39 1 .248 .346 .470
2024Away .791 283 36 14 45 1 .253 .325 .466
2023Home .872 316 44 16 48 4 .271 .348 .523
2023Away .792 344 42 17 55 7 .246 .320 .472
2022Home .749 332 40 15 42 0 .227 .319 .430
2022Away .856 335 44 21 52 2 .256 .334 .522
More Splits→ View More Split Stats
Stat Review
How does Christian Walker compare to other hitters?
This section compares his stats with all batting seasons from the previous three seasons (minimum 400 plate appearances)*. The bar represents the player's percentile rank. For example, if the bar is halfway across, then the player falls into the 50th percentile for that stat and it would be considered average.

* Exit Velocity and Barrels/PA % are benchmarked against 2019 data (min 400 PA) and Hard Hit Rate is benchmarked against last season's data (min 400 PA). See here for more exit velocity/barrels stats plus an explanation of current limitations with that data set.
  • BB/K
    Walk to strikeout ratio
  • BB Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a walk.
  • K Rate
    The percentage of plate appearances resulting in a strikeout.
  • BABIP
    Batting average on balls in play. Measures how many of a batter’s balls in play go for hits.
  • ISO
    Isolated Power. Slugging percentage minus batting average. A computation used to measure a batter's raw power.
  • AVG
    Batting average. Hits divided by at bats.
  • OBP
    On Base Percentage. A measure of how often a batters reaches base. Roughly equal to number of times on base divided by plate appearances.
  • SLG
    Slugging Percentage. A measure of the batting productivity of a hitter. It is calculated as total bases divided by at bats.
  • OPS
    On base plus slugging. THe sum of a batter's on-base percentage and slugging percentage.
  • wOBA
    Weighted on-base average. Measures a player's overall offensive contributions per plate appearance. wOBA combines all the different aspects of hitting into one metric, weighting each of them in proportion to their actual run value.
  • Exit Velocity
    The speed of the baseball as it comes off the bat, immediately after a batter makes contact.
  • Hard Hit Rate
    A measure of contact quality from Sports Info Solutions. This stat explains what percentage of batted balls were hit hard vs. medium or soft.
  • Barrels/PA
    The percentage of plate appearances where a batter had a batted ball classified as a Barrel. A Barrel is a batted ball with similar exit velocity and launch angle to past ones that led to a minimum .500 batting average and 1.500 slugging percentage.
  • Expected BA
    Expected Batting Average.
  • Expected SLG
    Expected Slugging Percentage.
  • Sprint Speed
    The speed of a runner from home to first, in feet per second.
  • Ground Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are on the ground.
  • Line Drive %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are line drives.
  • Fly Ball %
    The percentage of balls put in play that are fly balls.
BB/K
0.41
 
BB Rate
10.0%
 
K Rate
24.1%
 
BABIP
.287
 
ISO
.217
 
AVG
.251
 
OBP
.335
 
SLG
.468
 
OPS
.803
 
wOBA
.348
 
Exit Velocity
91.2 mph
 
Hard Hit Rate
38.7%
 
Barrels/PA
8.5%
 
Expected BA
.246
 
Expected SLG
.457
 
Sprint Speed
21.9 ft/sec
 
Ground Ball %
37.9%
 
Line Drive %
15.3%
 
Fly Ball %
46.9%
 
Advanced Batting Stats
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Additional Stats
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Defensive Stats
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Batted Ball Stats
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Stats Vs Upcoming Pitchers
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Recent RotoWire Articles Featuring Christian Walker See More
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Past Fantasy Outlooks
2023
2022
2021
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
Walker parlayed more patience and an increase in fly balls into a 122 wRC+, the highest mark of his career. He swung at fewer pitches in and out of the zone, fueling a career low 19.6% strikeout rate. Walker's fly ball exit velocity increased, supporting a career-high .235 ISO. Unfortunately, his BABIP was adversely affected, falling over 50 points to .248. However, a 10.3% walk rate helped mitigate the damage. There was some luck involved in Walker's uptick, but the new approach should help him maintain more power than previously displayed. Walker's 17 defensive runs saved were by far the most among qualified first basemen which should help him stay on the field in the event he incurs some regression. After dealing with oblique issues last season, Walker missed only two games. He missed only 13 in 2019-2020, so durability is a plus. Walker is in play for those waiting on a first baseman/corner infielder.
Walker's third season as a regular was a disappointment. Two first-half IL stints for a strained right oblique didn't help, but overall Walker's power skills continued a downward trend with a drop in HR/FB, average fly ball distance and average exit velocity. His K%, BB% and BABIP were all within historical range, but the decline in power yielded a .304 wOBA, the second lowest among first baseman with at least 400 PA. As a righthanded batter, it may appear Walker is headed towards the lesser side of a platoon, but he's exhibited reverse splits so there's a better chance he becomes a reserve first baseman and corner outfielder. The freshness of 2019's fun ball breakout could draw interest, unfortunately the underlying metrics indicate it's unwarranted.
After spending parts of five seasons at Triple-A (and destroying the PCL for a couple years), Walker finally got his chance at full-time at-bats in the big leagues with the Diamondbacks in 2019. He smashed 29 homers with an 11.1 BB% over 603 PA. The sequel is never as good and Walker finished with an OPS below .800 in 2020, but he quietly had 18 doubles, fourth most in MLB. His hard-hit rate held firm at close to 49%, per Statcast, ranking in the top 11% of the league, and he hit nearly 20 points better vs. RHP than he did in 2019. Walker has not hit lefties particularly well so far in the majors (.231/.337/.447), and as he enters his age-30 season, he still has work to do if he wants to stick around and stave off the "Quad-A" label. Arizona does not project to have a competitive team in 2020 and Walker should have plenty of chances to right the ship and establish himself as a legitimate, corner-worthy bat.
The departure of Paul Goldschmidt last offseason opened up the job at first base in Arizona, and Walker began the season in a short-side platoon role alongside Jake Lamb after spending the last few years looking like a Quad-A player. Lamb went down with an injury in early April and Walker immediately staked his claim to the starting role with a .994 OPS through the first 28 games. He did struggle at times but still posted a 112 wRC+ while starting 132 games at first base, and he shaved his strikeout rate to just 22.8% in the second half. He mashed 29 home runs and had an 11.1 BB%, which represents the best mark of his professional career. Walker is more or less a prototypical power-hitting first baseman and actually had reverse splits, hitting for a better BA and SLG against righties than lefties. He should enter spring training as the Diamondbacks' top option at first base.
Walker is 28 years old and has managed 99 plate appearances at the big-league level over the past four seasons, owning a .163/.226/.388 line for his efforts. Meanwhile, he has amassed 2,282 plate appearances in Triple-A and has a .279/.344/.494 line there. This is the tale of a Quad-A player in that he has been able to hang around on the 40-man roster for this long, but has not yet had any opportunity to stick in the majors. Now that Paul Goldschmidt is no longer in Arizona, perhaps Walker will get a chance to show he can hit big-league pitching, though the Diamondbacks are expected to slot Jake Lamb in as the starter at first base to begin the season. Walker is out of options, so he has to make the 25-man roster or be exposed to waivers and take his Triple-A mashing to another organization.
Walker earned Pacific Coast League MVP honors in 2017, setting new career-highs in homers (32), RBI (114), steals (5), slugging percentage (.597) and OPS (.979). In previous runs at the Triple-A level, Walker's strikeout rate hovered around 25 percent, but he trimmed the number to an impressive 17.6 percent last season, while drawing walks at a career-high 10.3 percent clip. In a September callup, Walker homered twice in 15 plate appearances, but he was used primarily as a right-handed bat off the bench with expanded rosters. Although he's played regularly in left field as recently as 2016, the D-backs were deploying Walker almost exclusively at first base in Reno, a position where he's blocked by Paul Goldschmidt indefinitely in Arizona. With nothing left to prove at Triple-A, the only question is whether he'll get a chance at the big-league level in 2018. If the D-backs were to decide that Yasmany Tomas is a sunk cost, it would go a long way toward opening the door for Walker to get that chance.
With Chris Davis occupying first base for the foreseeable future and first base prospect Trey Mancini waiting in the wings, the Orioles decided to move Walker to the outfield in order to open up an easier path to the big leagues. Walker again began his season with Triple-A Norfolk, as he did in 2014 and 2015, as well. His development has seemed to level off over the past couple of seasons at Triple-A. His walk rate has decreased in each of the last two seasons and though his average and slugging percentage both ticked up in 2016, his overall wRC+ remained stagnant at 116. Walker will be 26 years old by the time Opening Day rolls around, and it's looking increasingly likely that his potential MLB impact may be limited. He is on the 40-man roster and may see the field for the Orioles this year, but his long-term fantasy outlook is bleak.
Walker showed he mastered Double-A in 2014 before stalling in 44 Triple-A games. He spent the entire 2015 season at Triple-A and produced a solid but not outstanding season, closely mirroring his Triple-A numbers from the prior season. Walker has 31 September plate appearances over the last two Septembers and it is time for the Orioles to see what they have with him. With Walker, the Orioles have an above average power hitter, but his strikeout rate has increased at the higher levels, approaching a 25% K% in Triple-A the last two seasons. Walker appears to have fallen behind Trey Mancini in the organization's prospect rankings. Mancini should make a push to Triple-A in 2016, so it may be now or never for Walker. The Orioles will need to sign Chris Davis or replace him. Walker is the top internal candidate and he could in theory compete for the starting job in spring training, but there is a strong possibility the club signs or trades for a first baseman.
The 23-year-old first baseman got his first taste of the big leagues in 2014, thanks in large part to Chris Davis getting suspended for the final two weeks of the season after testing positive for amphetamines. He started the season at Double-A Bowie, and certainly deserved a promotion after slashing .301/.367/.516 with 20 home runs in 411 plate appearances, but under normal circumstances he may not have gotten another promotion so soon after slashing .259/.335/.428 in just 44 games at Triple-A. With Davis eligible to open the season at first base, and Steve Pearce presumably assured of a spot on the Opening Day roster, Walker will likely spend most of 2015 at Triple-A attempting to build off his power outburst in 2014. There are very few first-base prospects that are as close to contributing as Walker, but if he were to be given a full-time role due to a trade or an injury to Davis or Pearce, he would profile as a second division player, at best.
Walker earned passing grades in his first full pro season, advancing from Low-A to Double-A by the end of the season. Power is Walker's most valuable tool and he showed off with 11 home runs at the lower two levels. The Orioles should be happy with his .300 average on the season, though his production dropped as he advanced. Walker should begin 2014 at Double-A, but he is probably more than a year away from being able to help the Orioles after being selected by the organization as a fourth-round pick in 2012.
More Fantasy News
Extended $21.05 million QO
1BFree Agent  
November 4, 2024
The Diamondbacks extended Walker a one-year, $21.05 million qualifying offer Monday, Jeff Passan of ESPN.com reports.
ANALYSIS
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Starts rally in win
1BArizona Diamondbacks  
September 26, 2024
Walker went 2-for-5 with a double, an RBI and two runs scored in Wednesday's 8-2 win over the Giants.
ANALYSIS
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Returns to lineup Monday
1BArizona Diamondbacks  
September 24, 2024
Walker went 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI in Monday's 6-3 loss to the Giants.
ANALYSIS
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Sitting for series finale
1BArizona Diamondbacks  
September 22, 2024
Walker is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Brewers.
ANALYSIS
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Clubs homer in loss
1BArizona Diamondbacks  
September 17, 2024
Walker went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 8-2 loss to the Rockies.
ANALYSIS
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Latest Fantasy Rumors
Likely done in Arizona
1BFree Agent  
November 17, 2024
Walker isn't likely to re-sign with the Diamondbacks, per Jack Sommers of SI.com.
ANALYSIS
Walker is receiving interest from multiple teams early in free agency and should net a sizable multi-year deal, which is likely to be too rich for Arizona. The 33-year-old first baseman won his third straight Gold Glove in 2024 and clubbed 26 homers with an .803 OPS in 130 games.
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