Astros' Christian Walker: Back from paternity leave
Rotowire
The Astros reinstated Walker from the paternity list Thursday.
After spending three games away from the team while celebrating the birth of his child, Walker will rejoin the Astros and slide back in as the club's everyday first baseman. The 34-year-old has had a down year at the plate overall, but he's gone 16-for-43 (.372) with two home runs and eight RBI over his last 10 contests.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Goes on paternity list
Rotowire
The Astros placed Walker on the paternity list Monday.
Walker will likely be away for the entirety of the Astros' three-game set against the Guardians that runs through Wednesday before rejoining the club for its weekend series versus the Rangers. Victor Caratini could see reps at first base while Walker is away.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Productive weekend against Dodgers
Rotowire
Walker went 1-for-5 with a solo home run Sunday against the Dodgers.
Walker popped his second home run in Houston's three-game set against the Dodgers on Sunday, bringing his total to 12 on the season. He also has a six-game hitting streak, during which he's gone 12-for-28 with eight RBI and four runs scored. Despite the strong stretch, Walker continues to have an underwhelming season by hitting .231/.291/.381 across 364 plate appearances.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Homers in four-hit effort
Rotowire
Walker went 4-for-5 with a home run, a hit-by-pitch, four RBI and three runs scored in Friday's 18-1 win over the Dodgers.
Walker delivered an RBI single in the first inning, a two-run homer in the third and drove in another run when he was plunked with the bases loaded in the sixth. After floundering a bit late in June, Walker is 10-for-19 with six RBI over four games to begin July. His homer Friday is his only extra-base hit of the month so far. The first baseman is at a .231/.293/.377 slash line with 11 long balls, 43 RBI, 35 runs scored, 12 doubles and one triple across 85 games this season.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Trio of hits in win
Rotowire
Walker went 3-for-4 with one RBI in Tuesday's victory over Colorado.
Walker tallied his fourth three-hit game of the season. A high-profile offseason addition, the first baseman has struggled to find his footing in his first year with Houston, slashing .220/.283/.362 with 23 extra-base hits and 38 RBI across 82 games. While he made solid contact Tuesday, Walker has yet to come close to matching the power he displayed during his eight seasons in Arizona, where he posted a .464 slugging percentage.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Swats homer in win
Rotowire
Walker went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run, a walk and two total runs scored in Tuesday's 13-3 win over the Athletics.
Walker has hit safely in 10 of 14 games in June, but this was just his second multi-hit effort of the month. He's added three homers and 10 RBI while batting .241 (13-for-54) over that span. He's had a relatively unimpressive first season with the Astros so far, slashing .216/.282/.371 with 10 homers, 35 RBI, 30 runs scored, nine doubles, one triple and no stolen bases over 70 contests. Despite his numbers being worse across the board than in any of his previous full major-league seasons, he's still locked in as Houston's starting first baseman.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Out of Sunday's lineup
Rotowire
Walker is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
Walker's troubles at the plate have continued in June with a .678 OPS through 12 games, and he'll sit Sunday after starting the previous 14 contests. Victor Caratini will take over at first base for the series finale versus Minnesota.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Goes deep in rout
Rotowire
Walker went 3-for-4 with a home run, a double and four RBI in Wednesday's 10-2 win against the White Sox.
Walker helped Houston get off to a fast start with a two-run blast to left field in the first inning. He added a two-run double in the third to finish with a season-high four RBI. Walker has largely struggled so far during his first campaign in Houston, and even after Wednesday's big performance he still holds a modest .653 OPS through 65 games. If that mark holds, it would be his lowest OPS since 2018 and his first time below an .800 mark since 2021.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Pops eighth homer
Rotowire
Walker went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Tuesday against the Pirates.
Walker broke a scoreless tie with his eighth home run of the year in the seventh inning. Though interrupted by a brief absence after getting hit in the hand by a pitch, Walker has gone yard three times in his last seven games. While his power production is ticking up, Walker has hit only .226 across the last month while striking out at a 25 percent clip.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Back in action
Rotowire
Walker (hand) is starting at first base and hitting cleanup Friday against the Rays.
He exited Wednesday's game after getting hit on the hand by a pitch, but X-rays were negative and he just needed one day off before getting back in the mix. Walker is hitting .229 with three home runs in 25 games this month.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Taking Thursday off
Rotowire
Walker (hand) isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rays.
Walker had to make an early departure from Wednesday's contest after taking a pitch off his right hand. X-rays came back negative after the game, but the team will give him a day to recover from any lingering soreness that might still be bothering him. As a result, Victor Caratini will fill in at first base Thursday and bat fourth.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: X-rays negative
Rotowire
X-rays on Walker's right hand came back negative after he was hit by a pitch during Wednesday's game against the Athletics, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.
Walker remained in the game immediately after getting plunked in the fourth inning but was eventually replaced in the sixth. He appears to have escaped the incident without suffering any significant damage, so while the Astros may give him a day or two off to recover, he shouldn't need to miss extended time.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Departs after HBP
Rotowire
Walker was removed from Wednesday's game against the A's after being hit by a pitch on his right hand, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.
The first baseman initially stayed in the game after being struck by a 96-mph fastball during the fourth inning, but he was replaced by a pinch hitter two frames later. The specifics of the injury remain unclear, and Walker will likely undergo medical imaging to determine the severity of the issue.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Rips walk-off shot
Rotowire
Walker went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Sunday's win over Seattle.
Walker put Houston on the board with an RBI single in the third inning before coming up clutch late. The veteran slugger ripped a walk-off, two-run shot in the ninth inning for his sixth home run of the year. He's produced two straight multi-hit games after going 3-for-27 (.111) in his previous seven appearances. Walker is now slashing .212/.275/.354 with 23 RBI and 15 extra-base hits through 218 plate appearances.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Bat wakes up Friday
Rotowire
Walker went 2-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Friday's 6-3 win over the Rangers.
The first baseman put an exclamation point on a six-run rally by Houston in the seventh inning when he crushed a Shawn Armstrong fastball 410 feet to left-center field. Walker snapped an 0-for-16 mini-slump with the performance, while the long ball ended a 15-game homerless drought. The 34-year-old has yet to build much momentum to begin his tenure as an Astro, and through 180 plate appearances he's slashing just .210/.283/.358 with five homers, 18 RBI and 19 runs.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Five RBI across weekend series
Rotowire
Walker went 2-for-2 with a walk, three RBI and a run scored Sunday against the Reds.
Walker extended his hitting streak to seven games with a strong weekend series. He's struck out only 16.1 percent of the time across 31 plate appearances in that span while hitting .385 with six RBI and four runs scored. Since the start of May, Walker has raised his batting average from .198 to .225.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Five-game hitting streak
Rotowire
Walker went 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored Friday against the Reds.
Walker is slowly shaking off his slow start to the season, and he extended his hitting streak to five games with Friday's performance. He's gone 7-for-20 in that span while striking out only 14.3 percent of the time. Walker is still hitting just .213 for the season, though that number is progressively ticking up.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Cracks homer in win
Rotowire
Walker went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in an 8-5 win against the Tigers on Monday.
Walker put the Astros on the board with a two-run shot to left-center field in the fourth inning. The long ball was his fourth of the season, three of which have come over his past eight games. Walker is still slashing a modest .192/.273/.354 on the campaign, but he's shown improvement with a .267 batting average and six RBI to go along with the three homers over the aforementioned eight-game stretch.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Cracks solo homer
Rotowire
Walker went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 3-1 win over Toronto.
Walker got the Astros on the board in the second inning, when he took Bowden Francis deep to left-center field for a solo homer. Walker seems to have a turned a corner as of late, and over his last five games he's gone 7-for-19 with four runs scored, two home runs and four RBI.
... See More... See Less
Astros' Christian Walker: Gets on track
Rotowire
Walker went 3-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored Tuesday against the Blue Jays.
Walker has been stuck in a season-long slump, but he's slowly shown signs of turning things around. His performance Tuesday marked his first multi-hit game since April 11 and only his fourth of the season. Across his last four games, Walker has homered, driven in three runs and scored three runs.
