The Diamondbacks have had some early spring soreness, and on Thursday they obtained a scare with one among their most necessary gamers. Slugging Gold Glove first baseman Christian Walker was hit right-handed by a pitch in Cactus League motion towards the Giants. Walker was instantly faraway from the sport. Thankfully, X-rays got here again destructive and Walker was recognized with a bone contusion on the again of his proper hand. Walker underwent an MRI to verify the prognosis, and it additionally got here again clear. He was seen taking floor balls off a machine on Friday, however didn’t throw and can’t but swing a bat. Torey Lovullo mentioned Friday night time that Walker is formally day-to-day.
The bullet dodged. For now.
What this episode revealed is that any prolonged absence for Walker can be an enormous downside for the D-backs. His looming free company on the finish of 2024 is one other dilemma the workforce should handle. To be clear, there isn’t a alternative for Walker's glove or bat. He’s the most effective defensive first baseman in main league baseball. The winner of two consecutive Gold Gloves, his prowess stretches again to 2019. Since that season, Walker has posted an above-average 45 strikeouts and 34 earned runs, based on metrics primarily based on statcasts on the web site Baseball Savant. The following closest first baseman is former Diamondback Paul Goldschmidt with 14 OAA and 11 SBIs.
Walker has additionally emerged because the workforce's main energy menace, smashing 69 homers and driving in 197 runs over the previous two seasons. His .817 OPS or 124 OPS+ is about 24% higher than league common. That's a complete of 9 WAR (Wins Above Substitute) during the last two seasons. Merely put, Walker is irreplaceable, and there are not any choices on the MLB roster or within the minors which can be more likely to come near filling the void if Walker ever misses important time. Nonetheless, his harm has pressured us to take a more in-depth have a look at the D-backs' choices, as threadbare as they’re.
Main Choices:
Torey Lovullo mentioned as he thought issues by Thursday and Friday morning, these are the first choices he would contemplate:
Pavin Smith is a succesful defensive first baseman who has struggled to make it on the plate in 1,094 MLB plate appearances, posting a .698 OPS or 91 OPS+. That batting line is dragged down by his numbers towards left-handed pitching, however even towards righties his .244/.329/.406 line, .735 OPS is common at finest.
Emmanuel Rivera he has performed some first base for the workforce, and as a right-handed bat, he may doubtlessly be a platoon mate with Smith at first base. Rivera has a profession .684 OPS or 89 OPS+. He hit .273/.329/.410, .739 OPS towards left-handed pitching
As seen above, the Smith/Rivera platoon at first base might be considerably serviceable, however the most effective a workforce may fairly draft from this mixture is someplace between a .700-.740 OPS. The common MLB OPS for a primary baseman was .775 final 12 months.
Emergency choices solely:
Lovullo mentioned the next choices would solely be in an emergency and never one thing he thought of:
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. (107 innings) a Joc Pederson (154 innings) each have restricted enjoying time at first base of their careers. Gurriel is a former backup and would in all probability do higher on protection. Underneath fielding coach Dave McKay, he had a profession 12 months defensively in left area in 2023, and the workforce may quit these features.
If the workforce ever wanted to make use of Gurriel or Pederson at first base for an prolonged time frame, the cascading impact can be to open up extra enjoying time. Randall Grichuk and probably Jake McCarthy in terrain. Grichuk has a profession .761 OPS, or 101 OPS+, however is recovering from his personal harm. He underwent surgical procedure in January to take away bone spurs in his heel and has not but been cleared for full baseball actions. Torey Lovullo mentioned he’ll probably be restricted to DH when he returns, a minimum of for some time. McCarthy, who’s on the roster bubble, has a .711 OPS and a 98 OPS+ in 736 profession PA. After the 2023 season, McCarthy is seeking to rebuild his worth and standing within the group.
I requested Lovullo if he'd ever contemplate shifting Eugenio Suarez to first, and he mentioned he by no means considered it that manner, and that Suarez (who can be at present injured) would keep at third base.)
Minor league choices
Lastly, there are two main leaguers in Andres Chaparro and Ivan Melendez, who each have wonderful energy. Neither is taken into account MLB-ready but, and they’re properly behind Smith and Rivera on the depth chart. In Melendez's case, the strikeouts are a serious difficulty that must be resolved in Triple-A earlier than a call-up ought to be thought of.
abstract
As may be seen from the above evaluation, there are not any robust choices behind Walker. Let's hope he stays as resilient as he has been in 4 of the final 5 years. He performed 157 video games final 12 months and 160 in 2022.
The present state of affairs additionally brings dwelling the workforce's dilemma relating to Walker's impending free company. 2024 is his last 12 months of workforce management and he appears ahead to testing the free agent waters in 2025. The workforce could also be contemplating an extension for Walker, however he will likely be 34 earlier than 2025 begins. it’s simple for the group and gamers to agree on the size of any deal.
