What Would Be the Best Infield Option Without Christian Walker?

Even if they decide to move on from Christian Walker, we know it won’t be easy for the Houston Astros. But here we’re going to try to get ahead of the situation and analyze what the best infield options would be, and we’ll go a little further because resolving the first-base situation with internal options won’t be that easy either.

Walker is among the finalists for the American League first base award, and although he has his strengths and weaknesses defensively, he remains a useful first baseman. In 2026, Walker finished with +7 Fielding Run Value, +2 in Range and +3 in Inf. DP over the 1,300 innings he played on defense. However, his grades in the new First Base Receiving metrics available show two somewhat concerning negative results.

Christian Walker 2026 First Base Receiving Leaderboard | Baseball Savant.

First, he ranks 11th in the league with 2 Receiving OAA, but in the On Target (-1.4) and Bounce (-0.7) metrics, he has negative results, which correspond to below-average performance when receiving throws directed at the target—without major receiving difficulty—and balls that bounce before reaching first base, respectively.

What Would Be the Best Solution for the Astros Without Walker?

Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa (1). Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

This is where the complicated questions begin. As you already know, the main reason the Astros would consider moving on from Walker is to keep Jeremy Peña, Isaac Paredes, and Carlos Correa in their infield. So the solution at first base would have to come from among them and, obviously, it would come down to choosing between Correa and Paredes.

Now, there are two interesting details here. Correa will be coming off the injured list again, and although there is enough time for him to be healthy by next season, his injury history carries significant weight in this decision.

The Astros need Correa in the lineup every day, and I think playing first base would be less complicated for him in certain ways. It’s not that he would have less work as a first baseman, because in reality it would be quite the opposite, but it would be different.

That means that, whatever Houston’s decision is, if they decide to move Paredes or Correa to first base, one of them will have to go through a very rigorous preparation process to master the position. Yordan Alvarez could be a perfect first baseman for the Astros in the future, and many times I haven’t understood how they’re wasting time by not preparing him to play that position, since his defensive performance in left field continues to get worse every year.

Going back to Correa and Paredes, the other debatable point here is how much the Astros are willing to “give up” defensively. I say this because Correa seems like a much more reasonable option at first base given his injury history, but at the same time, Houston would be losing its best option at third base, which is still Correa.

Over the last two seasons, Correa has played 509 innings at third base and has +2 Fielding Run Value with +2 in Range, while Paredes, over 1,934 innings, has fallen to -4 with -5 in Range, the sixth-worst mark among 25 third basemen with at least 1,000 innings played over the last two seasons.

The risk will remain present in any case, but there is one detail that could make the difference, and that is that Paredes has played 455 innings at first base throughout his career. Only 58 of those came with the Astros in 2026. The rest were during his years with the Rays. This doesn’t mean he’s ready to master the position, but it opens up some possibilities that a change could work, because during his time at first base, Paredes recorded +2 OAA and his most noticeable problems came when he had to make plays to his right.

Will the risk be worth it? If Walker is out of the equation in Houston and Correa is healthy enough to handle third base, Paredes could be the best option at first base, keeping three important hitters in the lineup. I don’t know what you think, but I’d tell you yes.

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