Few things are more frustrating than a poor decision made by a team that genuinely aimed to maximize value…only to have it backfire. This season has been no exception: while some investments have paid off, others have fallen flat. When it comes to the biggest contract busts, several names come to mind. But if we had to pick just one, the Houston Astros’ $60 million star stands out at the top of the list.
Yes, we are talking about the Astros’ first baseman, Christian Walker. Although Walker managed to drill his second career walk-off home run on Sunday against the Seattle Mariners, there’s still little to praise. Only six home runs, 23 RBIs, and an average of .212 with a .629 OPS. The stats can never justify a player of his caliber.
Kerry Miller of Bleacher Report, labeling him as one of the contract busts, wrote, “Walker entered Saturday with just five hits and 14 strikeouts in his last 47 ABs, dropping his batting average back below .200. And while his glovework hasn’t been terrible, he averaged a fielding run value of 10 and an outs above average of 13 over the past three seasons and is presently sitting at zero and one, respectively.” Going by such stats, it won’t be too wrong to say that the Astros made a wrong gamble by picking up the veteran first baseman.
But was he that bad earlier?
Well, Christian Walker has posted 95 home runs and also won the National League Golden Glove award for three consecutive years. He was also one of the players who made 500 appearances at the plate and reached an OPS of .800 every season. And obviously, he made it to the list consisting of some big players like Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, Juan Soto, and others.
But now, things are different. Walker’s hard-hit percentage and barrel rate have dropped. It reflects well enough that neither he is getting the job done at the plate nor with the glove. Additionally, Walker hasn’t been able to fully address the Astros’ first base issue for a while, as evidenced by their zero-fielding run value and one Outs Above Average.
So, is this the end of the journey for Walker with the Astros?
$60M star shows promise for the Astros
Let’s not sugarcoat anything—the Houston Astros’ first baseman, Christian Walker, has been simply bad this season. Walker, who once used to be a home run threat and a near-perfect defender, hasn’t been able to do much to solve the first base problem for the Astros. While many are already calling him one of the biggest disappointments this season, there’s been a ray of hope.
Well, on Sunday, while facing the Seattle Mariners, he managed to post a two-run walk-off home run, which led to the win against the opponent. But what was notable had been his good stretch in the last two games, where he went 2-for-4 on Saturday and then 3-for-5 along with three RBIs on Sunday. But what seemed to have brought such changes in him?
Superstition? Well, Walker somewhat got involved in it. The slugger switched lockers with the person who used that locker after the departure of Jason Heyward in the offseason. He also has started wearing socks high up and shaved off his mustache. Although it might be just a coincidence, for Walker, it seemed to have brought him into good light.
“I’ll do whatever I can to try to get the baseball gods’ attention. I feel like I don’t go out of my way, but if I throw a couple hits out there, I’ll probably do a really similar routine. We call it routine, not superstition. But I think it’s part of the game,” Walker said. Whatever might be the case, it cannot be denied that something clicked. And we all hope that he continues with the form and becomes one of the best first basemen in MLB.
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