Christian Walker's Slump Bringing Down Astros as Playoff Race Heats Up

Christian Walker has some of the worst numbers in baseball across the last two months.

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (8) Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Christian Walker has been in the midst of a major slump, hurting the Houston Astros during this stretch.

His numbers have put manager Joe Espada in a difficult position when it comes to setting up his lineup. Espada has moved down Walker in the order to compensate.

Slumping Since June

Walker started the season strong with an .810 OPS through 75 games (June 17). Since that date, Walker has a .585 OPS and a .192 average. His OPS is seventh worst in baseball over that stretch for qualified hitters.  He has seven home runs and just 28 RBI in 73 games since June 17.

The bright spot was an 11-game hitting streak during this bad spell. But since the day his hitting streak came to an end, his numbers have been even worse. Since the streak ended on Aug. 9, he has a .416 OPS in 34 games with a .143 batting average. The batting average ranks third worst in baseball since Aug. 9, behind Munetaka Murakami of the Chicago White Sox (.128) and Dillon Dingler of the Detroit Tigers (.132).

Win/Loss Difference

Walker’s number differences in wins and losses are some of the most extreme you’ll see in the MLB. He has a 1.002 OPS in wins with 22 home runs in 74 games. He’s hitting .310 in wins with 68 RBI. You expect hitters to have worse numbers in losses but not to the extreme of Walker. He has a .384 OPS in 74 losses he’s played in.

His OPS in losses is the worst in baseball, 46 points lower than the next worse, Vladimir Guerrero Jr. of the Toronto Blue Jays. He has a .125 batting average with just three home runs in losses. His RBI total in losses comes out to just 12.

Walker’s Defense

Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (8) Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Walker’s defensive metrics are better this season than last which has been a silver lining for Walker. Walker has three fielding runs compared to negative seven last year. Despite an OPS that’s 15 points lower than last year; he has a 1.5 bWAR compared with just 0.3 last year. However, his 1.8 bWAR as an Astro is not up to the standard of a player in the middle of 60-million-dollar contract.

Walker’s success is dramatically tied directly to Astros winning and losing. We have seen some of the most extreme splits in baseball. If Walker can play to his standard in wins the rest of the season, they’ll be getting one of the best hitters in baseball. But if we see the Walker of recent months and the one who shows up in losses, it might be best for Walker to not even make an appearance in the game, and we could see Lamonte Wade Jr. at first base.