Walker moving past poor rep on defense
Christian Walker climbed through the minor leagues with a defensive reputation. It was not flattering.
“More competent than an asset,” according to one Baseball America report. Another said his defense at first base “needs work.” The publication’s most recent report on him, published in 2018, described him as “fringe-average” at the position.
And so it is easy to imagine how Walker felt when he got word after last season that he had been named a National League Gold Glove finalist.
“It’s definitely some validation, but, most importantly, motivation,” Walker said. “We had just finished the season and all I was thinking about was defensive drills and how I can use this as a springboard and grow off of it.”
Walker did not win the award last year, but if the first month of the season is any indication, he has continued to grow. He looks comfortable and confident. He has made all of the routine plays. He has made difficult plays look easy. And he has saved teammates from throwing errors by digging out balls in the dirt.
He did all of those things in Friday night’s 7-4 win over the San Francisco Giants. In the third, he fielded a hard smash off the bat of the Giants’ Alex Dickerson to start an inning-ending double play. He twice made good scoops on throws.
Despite his reputation, he said he never considered himself a poor defender. He admits it is possible his view of himself was not entirely accurate.
Walker said his focus on defense was taken to a new level a few years ago when he began spending time around shortstop Nick Ahmed and then-Diamondbacks first baseman Paul Goldschmidt. He noticed their attention to detail, their consistency and reliability. He also recognized how a mistake at the big league level could become magnified.
“If something happens, if you don’t make a play you’re supposed to, you get
exposed a little bit more,” Walker said. “So it’s about if my pitchers get a ground ball and put a ball on the ground, they need to know it’s an out.”
Walker said his ability to make a reaction play like on the Dickerson ground ball is a matter of being consistent with his pre-pitch movements. He said he always goes through the same routine before each pitch, putting weight on one leg, then the other, followed by a small hop or bounce.
“When balls are hit like that,” he said, “to know I’m ready, I know exactly where I am. I know where my glove is, where my feet are, where the base, where the runner is. To be able to recreate that environment is extremely helpful when balls are hit like that.”
Walker dug out throws from second baseman Ketel Marte and third baseman Eduardo Escobar on Friday.
“Having been an infielder,” manager Torey Lovullo said, “you get that ball moving in that direction and you know if it’s close, he’s got it, it’s a really nice feeling for an infielder. I’m sure our guys are feeling that.”
Walker said his ability to execute picks is a product of both experience
and work. He believes he better understands the angles involved at first base; his positioning is different on a throw from third than on those from short or second. He said he practices those tricky hops by catching balls hit by coaches.
“We’ll have a guy with a fungo (bat) go stand out around second base and just whack balls at you,” Walker said. “Sometimes they’re two or three hoppers, but in terms of working on the pick you’re really only concerned about that last little hop.”
Most of the time, the person with the bat is third base/infield coach Tony Perezchica, whom Walker says has played a key role in helping him improve.
Last year, Walker lost out to the Cubs’ Anthony Rizzo for a Gold Glove, and Rizzo is having another strong season, at least according to the defensive metrics.
“That’s not why I’m doing it, to win a Gold Glove,” Walker said. “That’s great and that means I did my job that year if you do. But in the same sense I’m doing it for the team, doing it for myself, doing it for the pitching staff, doing it to contribute to the D-Backs.”