Last year, Christian Walker had a breakout season that everyone seems to be fully discounting for 2020. He went 86/29/73/.259/8 in 529 ABs. I’m sorry, he better than Au Shizz? Because he looks better than Au Shizz. I suppose no one thinks Christian Walker can do it again, or even take it a step further. I wonder why, i.e., hymn, why can’t he go onward Christian Walker? Did I just write the last two sentences just to tee up that pun? *puts on sunglasses* Maybe. But we’re not just here today talking about Christian Walker because of a church hymn. If that’s all I wanted, I would’ve talked about Mariners prospect, Wade Enwatter or Milord Kumbaya. What, you thought I was only going to write two sentences for bad puns? You new to Razzball? Church puns are supposed to stink. That’s why everyone’s got their nose up looking for a pew. Take it, Highlights Magazine! It is yours! So, what can we expect from Christian Walker for 2020 fantasy baseball and what makes him a sleeper?
Kinda goes back to everyone not trusting Christian Walker to repeat, because if he just does his previous season again, he’s worth way more than where he’s being drafted. So, can Walker repeat? Doode, why else am I writing this post? Seriously. JFChristian! He averaged 411 feet per homer, so if the balls come back to earth and not wearing sweatpants with “Juicy” on their ass, he’s still got plenty of power to hit it out. His 14.8 Launch Angle, produced a 38.4% fly ball rate with a 20% HR/FB rate. Ain’t trying to make unrealistic expectations, but the other guy with a 14.8 Launch Angle is Pete Alonso, but Walker’s exit velocity on average was actually higher than Albombso’s. Walker had a 46% Hard Contact rate and Alonso had a 42% rate. Obviously, I’m not saying this to bring Alonso down, it’s to elevate the Walker like donning a pair of Steph Curry sneakers. “Yo, where’d you get those fly as f**k nurse sneakers?” That was overheard on the streets of Sacramento. If you heard Walker had a 46% Hard Contact rate and thought that sounded high, you’re right. He was top 15 in the league. No one in the top 15 is a chump. Only one even close to chump-like is Rhys Hoskins at 14th, and I’m not convinced yet there’s not something still to him. Gonna sound pretty basic, but sometimes ya boy Grey gotta be basic. If you hit the ball hard and in the air, you’re gonna do fine. So, Walker will homer, can he do anything else? He stole eight bags last year in nine attempts, but he must’ve been sneezed on by Jarrod Dyson, because he looks more like a 3-5 steal guy. Next up, his batting average. Last year’s .259 was with a .312 BABIP, so he’s close to his ceiling without more luck or fewer strikeouts. Thankfully, I think he can cut his Ks. His chase rate was 28.2%, which is not just a home park number, but how often he went outside the zone for pitches. League average was 31.6. His rate of swinging at pitches inside the zone was 78% (average was 68.5%) and his contact on pitches inside the zone was 81.9% (league was at 84.9%). So, not all great there, he’s obviously swinging at the right pitches, but he is missing them. That feels more correctable than swinging at the wrong pitches and hitting or missing them, so it’s positive, relatively. Feels kinda pushy for his average without strides forward. Well, you know who can takes strides forward? Walker! (Sorry.) Honestly, he feels like a cheap Au Shizz for barely half the price. Call him Paul Ironschmidt. Fe Shizz! For 2020, I’ll give Christian Walker projections of 82/31/93/.257/4 in 554 ABs with a chance for more.
