Christian Walker took Chris Archer deep twice in a 7-1 win. The former 4th round pick has improved in almost every area so far this season.
Walker led off the bottom of the 2nd, he took a down and away fastball for a strike, then watched a slider in the dirt. Then in a 1-1 count, Archer hung a slider belt high and Walker hit it 404 feet over the left center wall. In Walker’s second at bat, Archer started it with another slider that hung at the top of the zone that Walker just missed. In a 1-0 count with Archer having hung 2 sliders and Walker hitting 1 of them out of the park, Walker was most likely sitting fastball and that is exactly what he got. He got a belt high inside fastball that he turned on and hit 413 feet, for his 2nd homer in 2 at bats versus Archer.
Walker has become much more patient at the plate this season, last year his first pitch swing percentage was 41.7% this year it is just 30.9%. In becoming more patient Walker has lowered his K rate and raised his BB rate, the K% has gone from 23.8% last year to 19.9% this year, and the BB% has gone from 8.5% last year to 11.9% this year. Another benefit of being more selective, Walker is looking for a certain pitch and when he gets it, he doesn’t miss it. His power numbers have also gone up from last year, his xSLG last year was .386 it is now up to .593 this season. Walker already has more barrels this year than he did all of last year, his Barrel% has risen from 6.4% last year to 15.3% this year.