{"id":49706,"date":"2021-08-02T16:36:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-02T20:36:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=49706"},"modified":"2022-09-22T14:25:46","modified_gmt":"2022-09-22T18:25:46","slug":"christian-walker-defense","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2021\/08\/02\/christian-walker-defense\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Walker: An Elite Defensive First Baseman"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was Saturday night, August 31, 2019. The Arizona Diamondbacks<\/a>, riding a five-game winning streak and trying to climb their way to a wild card berth, led the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a>, 6\u20134. It was the top of the ninth, and there were no outs. Matt Beaty, a lefty, stepped to the plate to face Diamondbacks closer Archie Bradley. Chris Taylor stood on third, Cody Bellinger was on second, and Joc Pederson was on first. Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker recalled, \u201cAutomatically with a lefty, my mentality goes to \u2018This ball will be hit at me.\u2019 Not \u2018If this ball is hit at me, which way do I go with it?\u2019 It\u2019s \u2018This ball is coming to me. Get ready to field this baseball.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

On Bradley\u2019s first pitch, Beaty smashed a rocket toward the hole on the right side. \u201cTorey (Lovullo, the Diamondbacks manager) and Tony (Perezchica, the third base coach and infield coach) had us in a high-alert, floating position, where they give the option to us,\u201d Walker said. \u201cGiven the tempo and how hard the ground ball is hit and the baserunners at the bases, it\u2019s basically my choice. If that ball is slow, and it was a chopper, then I\u2019ve got to charge it, and my play goes to home plate. It ended up being a pretty well-hit top-spinner just to my right.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Read More: First Baseman’s Mitt — Why is it? What is it?<\/a><\/p>\n

Christian Walker Saves the Game<\/h3>\n

Walker dove to his right and snagged it on one hop. From one knee, he whipped the ball to second. \u201cI had to leave my feet, but it was taking me towards second base anyway. Because of the tempo, how hard it was hit, and where I was \u2014 with an angle to second base \u2014 I felt like my play was to second base. That run (Taylor), obviously, is going to score, but we\u2026were up by two at the time. So once I saw how hard the ball was hit, the priority was a double play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shortstop Nick Ahmed quickly gathered the throw \u2014 \u201cIt was perfect,\u201d Ahmed recalled \u2014 stepped on the bag, and fired to first. Bradley, hustling as soon as the ball was hit, caught the throw with his toe on the bag. As first base umpire Alex Tosi made a forceful \u201cout\u201d call, Bradley pumped his fist in triumph. The next hitter \u2014 Russell Martin \u2014 grounded to Ahmed for the final out, giving the Diamondbacks a 6\u20135 victory. Several factors contributed to the victory, but Walker\u2019s play in the ninth was one of the biggest. Ahmed \u2014 two years later \u2014 said, \u201cThat was a huge play. The ball was smoked off the bat, and he lays out for the diving play. We ended up getting two. It was a huge play in a huge moment, and he\u2019s got that ability to make that play.\u201d<\/p>\n