Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker has been an impossible out against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium this year. Walker, who went 2-for-3 with two home runs for the second consecutive game, helped Arizona win the series with its 9-3 victory on the Fourth of July.
At one point on Thursday, the Dodgers, at a loss as to what else they could possibly throw at Walker, decided instead to intentionally walk the Diamondbacks slugger with two outs and no runners on base in the fifth inning, to the relief of Los Angeles fans.
Even amidst his own Dodger Stadium dominance, Walker himself has fewer answers than his opponents—even he can’t explain this.
Christian Walker on if he has any more explanation than he did yesterday for his dominance at Dodger Stadium:
“No, it’s getting worse. I have less for you than I did last night. It’s just a crazy thing. Yeah. Speechless.” pic.twitter.com/aSwlUGmT9J
— PHNX Diamondbacks (@PHNX_Dbacks) July 5, 2024
“No, it’s getting worse. I have less for you than I did last night,” Walker said. “It’s just a crazy thing. Yeah. Speechless.”
Walker belted five home runs in the three contests against Los Angeles, driving in nine of the Diamondbacks’ 26 runs in the series.
So dominant was Walker that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts likened the Diamondbacks slugger to baseball Hall of Famer Babe Ruth.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts on Christian Walker after his 19th career home run at Dodger Stadium.
“He’s Babe Ruth against us.”@SportingTrib #Dodgers pic.twitter.com/QQWj9zYp1K
— Fredo Cervantes (@FredoCervantes) July 5, 2024
And that’s not far off.
Walker has played six games at Dodger Stadium, belting seven home runs. He has an unimaginable 1.877 OPS in those games. Small sample size? Sure.
But don’t be fooled.
In his career at Dodger Stadium, Walker, who owns a .801 OPS overall in 10 big league seasons, has posted a Sultan of Swat-esque 1.184 OPS in 42 games, eerily similar to the Babe’s 1.164 career mark in 22 seasons. Roberts might be onto something.
Fortunately for the Dodgers, they’ll face Waker and the Diamondbacks again in August, though it won’t be at Dodger Stadium.
Source link : https://www.si.com/mlb/christian-walker-cant-explain-his-dominance-dodgers
Author :
Publish date : 2024-07-05 09:39:10
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.