Christian Walker
With Paul Goldschmidt traded, A.J. Pollock now wearing Dodger Blue, and Patrick Corbin pitching in DC, the Diamondbacks have decided to step back after being competitive in 2017 and 2018. Enter Christian Walker who was picked up after being designated for assignment by the team that drafted him (Baltimore Orioles) and two others who he would never suit up for (Atlanta braves and Cincinnati Reds).
Walker had always been somewhat blocked in the big leagues. At first by MVP candidate Chris Davis (what a time) and by the previously mentioned Goldschmidt. Last year, Walker was called up and was going to get some reps at 1B and LF as the D-Backs wanted to see he could carry his triple-A numbers to the big leagues. Unfortunately, Walker took a Kenta Maeda fastball to the face and needed surgery on a sinus fracture ending his season.
This 2019 MLB season, Walker is back and ready to prove that he is an MLB caliber player that will be an asset to the next competitive D-Backs team. Like J.D. Davis, Walker has proven that he can hit the ball a long way very hard. His average exit velocity of 95.7 MPH puts him in the top 3% in the league. This is only over a sample of 22 batted balls but nevertheless, you cant fake this type of power.
Walker to this point has been an extreme fly ball hitter but seems to be changing his approach. In the past, he had heavily focused on going the other way. In the 2019 MLB season, however, it appears Walker is placing more emphasis on pulling the ball as evidenced that 86.4% of his batted balls so far have been pulled or in the middle of the field.
The early results have been encouraging as his wRC+ is sitting 45 points above average and he has hit better than he has in years. Sometimes it takes a while for everything to click for a player. For Walker, this might finally be the season.
Is it too early to declare any of these guys breakouts or stars? Yes! But these guys are showing some exciting numbers early on and over their next hundred ABs force their way into the conversation for the breakout star of 2019 or an All-Star game.