Christian Walker has an oblique injury while exercising in the spring.
In their winter search for a first baseman, the Houston Astros signed Christian Walker, a 12-year veteran, to a three-year, $60 million contract. Walker, who earned the 2024 Gold Glove at first base for the third consecutive year, gives the Astros a powerful bat and great defense.
However, according to Astros writer Brian McTaggart on X, Walker was pulled from a spring training game on Wednesday due to left oblique strain, which put Houston’s much sought-after offseason acquisition in a bit of a bind.
Walker was unable to participate against the St. Louis Cardinals because of soreness he encountered during batting practice. “I don’t want to view it at this time. According to McTaggart on MLB.com, Astros manager Joe Espada stated, “I’m just hoping for the best.”
Given Walker’s history of oblique problems, Houston has some reason to be concerned, even though this is just a small setback. Last season, he missed a month due to a strained left oblique, and in 2021, he was placed on the disabled list twice due to problems with his right oblique.
Walker has been a very effective player when healthy. During the previous season, he played in 130 games with the Diamondbacks, hitting 26 home runs, 84 RBI, and 72 runs scored. He had 3.8 WAR in 2023 with 33 home runs and 103 RBI. Naturally, he plays defense as well; he has won three Gold Gloves.
Walker, who is 34 years old, is expected to produce this season for the Astros. Compared to prior seasons, Houston will seem very different going into the 2025 campaign. This summer, the team added Walker and Isaac Paredes, who was involved in the transaction that sent Tucker to the Chicago Cubs, in place of stalwarts Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker.
With four World Series appearances and two titles over that time, Houston has advanced to the postseason eight times in a row. But last season, the Astros only managed 88 victories, which is their lowest season-long victory total since 2016. Additionally, Houston was eliminated early in the 2024 playoffs when the Detroit Tigers swept them in the Wild Card Series.
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