New Houston Astros Slugger Named Top 10 at Position by MLB Insider

The Houston Astros made a big addition to their lineup and ESPN has ranked him as a top 10 player at his position.

Sep 17, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first base Christian Walker (53) runs off a solo home run in the eighth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images

Despite losing some major pieces from their core during this offseason, the Houston Astros made one big addition to their lineup when they signed long-time Arizona Diamondback Christian Walker to play first base.

The corner infield position has been a source of trouble for the Astros ever since the team moved on from Yuli Gurriel, as the large contract the team gave Jose Abreu proved disastrous and the club had to rely on journeymen to fill the void since moving on from him.

Now, the hope is that the team will go from one of the worst in the league at first to one of the best, and ESPN MLB insider Buster Olney just lent major credence to that idea.

Writing his top 10 first basemen rankings recently, Olney placed Walker in the No. 6 spot in the game, just outside a top five that was comprised of Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Matt Olson and Pete Alonso.

"He's won three straight Gold Gloves and while he is not a pure pull hitter like new teammates Jose Altuve and Isaac Paredes, the right-handed hitting Walker should be able to take advantage of the Crawford Boxes in Houston's Daikin Park," Olney wrote.

Walker has spent the past half decade-plus establishing himself as one of the best all-around first basemen the league has to offer.

Since 2019, he has finished with a wRC+ of at least 110 in every year except one, and he has mashed 36, 33 and 26 home runs in the last three seasons in addition to the defensive value reflected in his Gold Glove wins.

Now in his age 34 season, the Astros hope he will be able to continue to perform at his customary high level and that this will not be a redux of the Abreu situation.

Fangraphs projections certainly support the notion that it will not be, as according to Steamer, Walker is projected to hit 32 home runs on a triple slash line of .243/.326/.462. That would be good for an OPS of .788, which would be solid, but not likely reflective of a top six first baseman in baseball.

If Walker either exceeds that or matches it in conjunction with Gold Glove-caliber defense, then Houston will have a strong building block in its quest to win the American League West once again despite losing core pieces like Kyle Tucker, Alex Bregman and Ryan Pressly.