Familiar injury woes strike Astros' Christian Walker after spring training scratch

Without question, the Houston Astros' marquee offseason addition was Christian Walker. After seeing first base turn into a wasteland of ineptitude the last couple of years outside of valiant part-time efforts from Yainer Diaz and Victor Caratini, Walker represented a massive opportunity to improve the Astros roster.

In the last three years, Walker has quietly become one of the best first basemen in baseball while averaging a .250/.332/.481 line and 32 homers a season in addition to winning three straight Gold Gloves. While not a perfect player, there is no denying that he has been incredibly productive on both sides of the ball and he certainly should be an upgrade over what Jose Abreu and Jon Singleton were providing on a nightly basis.

However, Walker didn't join the Astros without some risk, and unfortunately those fears were realized at spring training on Wednesday. The Astros scratched Walker from his spring training start with soreness in his left oblique. Not only are these types of injuries particularly problematic, but are also very familiar when it comes to Walker.

Astros scratch Christian Walker from spring training start with yet another oblique injury

The severity of Walker's injury is unknown, and spring training is exactly the time of year when teams are going to proceed with extreme caution if something minor pops up. Given the level of the Astros' investment in Walker and his importance to their 2025 aspirations, it is entirely possible that Houston is just being proactive with their slugger.

However, this is far from the first time that Walker has dealt with an oblique injury. An oblique issue cost him some time in 2024 with Arizona and dealt with similar problems on two different occasions in 2021. If this was a one-time situation, it could be written off as just some rotten luck. However, there does seem to be a bit of a pattern when it comes to Walker's health and it could spell trouble for the Astros

It will be a little while before we learn more about Walker's injury, and honestly, it could be something the Astros will be playing by ear. In addition to Walker's injury history, oblique injuries can range from being completely healed in a couple days to requiring months on the injured list. It seems doubtful that Walker's current ailment is immediately on the more severe side as he was set to play on Wednesday. But one can also assume that this could be a sign of a larger long-term problem.

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