Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Christian Walker

The star first baseman had another strong year as he won his third Gold Glove in a row in 2024

Apr 30, 2024; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker celebrates with teammates after hitting a two run walk off home run in the tenth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images / Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball-Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

Christian Walker, Right-Handed First Baseman, Age: 33

2024 Contract Status: $10.9 MM

Christian Walker 2024 and career stats / Jack Sommers

The Arizona Diamondbacks made a wise choice early in 2017 when they claimed Christian Walker off waivers from the Cincinnati Reds on March 28. That was weeks after the Reds claimed him off waivers from the Braves who claimed him off of waivers from the Orioles.

The Orioles originally drafted him in the Fourth Round of the 2012 MLB Draft. Walker had been stuck behind star first basemen his whole career until 2019 when he won the first base job over Jake Lamb after the trade of Paul Goldschmidt.

That's the role he's held on the D-backs until the end of this season and one he's been very successful at. He was a leader in the clubhouse and on the field and one of the team's most important right-handed hitters and run producers.

Walker worked tirelessly over the season's first four months as he appeared in all 107 games prior to July 30. Through July 29, he had a slash line of .254/.338/.476/.815 with 20 doubles, 23 homers, and 71 RBI.

He was the right-handed power threat for the majority of the season through this point aside from Ketel Marte, who hit right-handed a third of the time. Eugenio Suarez struggling during most of this time period, leaving the heavy lifting from the right side to Walker until he too joined the fray in July.

Then, on July 29, Walker made a running catch and then turned quickly to throw the ball and injured his left oblique. It was a mild strain, but mild oblique strains can still knock out a player for at least a month and that happened to Walker.

Luckily for the D-backs, they were able to acquire Josh Bell the next day on the Trade Deadline to give Walker as much time as he needed to be able work his way back from the strain.

As difficult as it was for Walker to miss a month in his final season with the team, Ultimately, he was unable to return to action until September 3 where he played nearly every game from then on to the end of the season.

Over those final 23 games, Walker managed to make a big impact with his power despite not many hits as he had six doubles and three homers with a slug of .423.

Unfortunately for Walker and the D-backs, they struggled with their offense over the season's final 10 games and wound up missing the playoffs which potentially ended Walker's tenure with Arizona.

Walker slumped over those final ten games with just a .167 batting average and .494 OPS. It was not the ending that he or the team wanted.

Despite that, there was plenty of high moments for Walker and Arizona together. The best moment or series all year was easily the Fourth of July series against the Dodgers where Walker destroyed their pitching.

Over those three games, Walker had eight hits, a double, five home runs, nine RBI, and three walks. That was not the only time Walker dominated Los Angeles.

Over nine games, Walker hit .412 with a 1.765 OPS against the Dodgers. He homered nine times and had 15 RBI as he blitzed opposing pitchers in blue.

Related Content: Christian Walker Hits Two More Homers in 9-3 Rout of Dodgers

In total on the season, Walker had 26 home runs, 84 RBI, 55 walks, and 133 strikeouts. His OPS+ was a strong 116 while his wRC+ was the same as 2023, a 119. Both vastly above-average.

Walker was able to increase his walk percentage to 10% but he did strikeout 24.1%, his highest by far since 2019.

He hit the ball harder than in 2023 with a hard hit rate of 48%, a large increase over 40.1% in 2023. The vast majority of his stats were in-line with 2023 and 2022 as he did not show a steep decrease in his ability to hit the ball despite being 33 years old.

Plus, his fielding was once again one of the best in the Majors and tops among first basemen. He recorded seven Defensive Runs Saved and 13 Outs Above Average which is why Walker won his third Gold Glove in a row this year.

In total, it was a successful season in the desert for perhaps the second best first baseman in franchise history.

2025 and Beyond

2025 Contract status: Free Agent

Christian Walker is currently a free agent. On November 19, Walker turned down the Arizona Diamondbacks Qualifying Offer. He is free to sign with any MLB club and will get a multi-year contract worth more than $20 MM a year and likely is looking at a three-year deal worth around 60 million dollars.

It's quite possible that the Diamondbacks find money in their budget to bring back their former first baseman as they don't have any true in-house replacements and there's no one else in the trade market or free agency that can match Walker's production.

However, the odds are likely against such a move and it's more likely that he signs with another team. If that is the case, Walker will have spent eight years with the organization and climbed the rankings of many stats. He was a true fan favorite that would be sorely missed by many fans, players, and members in the organization.

Related Content: Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review Links Hub