RADIO
Christian Walker is a fantasy baseball waiver wire pickup for Week 22 of the 2021 MLB season. Consider adding the 1B if he's a free agent in your leagues.
BALLER MOVE: Add in leagues of 12+ teams
ROSTERED IN: 20% of leagues
ANALYSIS: It's been a disappointing season for Walker from the get-go so he'd been off the fantasy radar all year. He's never really been able to get going at the plate, struggling with injuries and inconsistency. He battled a nagging oblique injury throughout the first half of the season, which required multiple IL stints. Overall, he's slashing an underwhelming .234/.301/.355 with 17 doubles, five home runs, and 31 RBI over 282 at-bats. However, he's picked it up the last seven games with a .263/.440/.421 batting line across 19 at-bats. The Diamondbacks are just one of five teams to play seven games as they hit the road for a three-game set against the Pirates at PNC Park and a four-game series vs. the Phillies.
Walker hasn't had the best luck at the dish this year with a .247 xBA, .306 xwOBA, and .367 xSLG. Granted, those numbers aren't great but they're a jump up from his actual batting line and his .286 BABIP is also a three-year low. In case you didn't figure it out by now, the 30-year-old first baseman has a low floor. It's likely that that the oblique issue bothered him for the majority of the season and that would help explain why he's seen declines in his Hard Hit Rate, Barrel Rate, Max Exit Velocity, and xSLG.
This hasn't exactly been a ringing endorsement but streaming Walker is all about volume and the pitchers that he'll face. He's got a chance to right the ship, to some extent, against the Pirates (.336 wOBA allowed) and the Phillies, two underwhelming pitching staffs. Wil Crowe, JT Brubaker, Mitch Keller, Matt Moore, Kyle Gibson, and even Aaron Nola look like plus matchups for Walker. Despite his struggles, he'll still hit between fourth and sixth for a D-Backs team that's won 6-of-7 games entering Friday's action.
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