Christian Walker's starting to justify Astros' deal, but one glaring weakness remains

Christian Walker was the Houston Astros' biggest offseason acquisition this past winter. Houston shelled out $60 million over three seasons to secure the three-time Gold Glove Award-winner, but that elite-level defense has yet to show up since Walker landed in Space City.

Though Walker's bat has finally started to pick up the pace, his defense remains in neutral. No matter the metric you use, Walker's defensive performance through the first one-third of the 2025 season remains rather mundane.

According to Baseball Savant, Walker is in a tie for eighth among all first baseman with just 1 out above average (OAA). Atlanta Braves infielder Matt Olson, who has two Gold Glove Awards of his own, ranks first in Major League Baseball with 5 OAA this season.

Christian Walker's starting to justify Astros' deal, but his defense is somewhat concerning

Last season, Walker was tops in the National League with 13 OAA while playing first base for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Only Carlos Santana of the Minnesota Twins had more (14 OAA). In 2023, Walker was the runaway leader in that category with 12 OAA, more than double his closest competitor (Anthony Rizzo).

Another advanced metric oftentimes used to evaluate a player's performance is defensive runs saved (DRS). Currently, Olson leads all of MLB in that category as well. His 12 DRS is No.1 among all first baseman with Vinnie Pasquantino's 3 DRS a distant second. Walker's -1 DRS has him in a tie for 14th with Freddie Freeman, Bryce Harper, and Josh Naylor.

In terms of overall team defense, the Astros rank second in all of MLB with 18 OAA (Mauricio Dubón and Jake Meyers play a big role in that statistic), but come in 18th in terms of DRS. Walker's 1 OAA is the same as Jose Altuve's, but the former MVP is playing an entirely new position. Rookie outfielder Cam Smith, who's never played right field until this season, has 7 DRS through the first 50-plus games in 2025 after spending his entire collegiate and pro career on the infield dirt.

This is an area of Walker's game that must be cleaned up. He was offered a massive contract not just because of his 120 wRC+ over the last three seasons or his .813 OPS during that same span. Houston expected him to continue to put forth Gold Glove-caliber defense at first base, but to date, that's been missing from his game.

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