PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Christian Walker baseball’s most underrated first baseman?

Starting point is 00:00:10 Hello and welcome in to another edition of the PHNX Debaks podcast right here on PHNX. My name is Derek Montia, occasionally known as Clark Griswold. This guy next to me, he's the vice mayor, PHNX, occasionally known as Thunderstick, and I call him Russ. It's the one and only Jesse Friedman. I have no idea what you're talking about. Oh, I think I know what movie we're going to make you watch. That's for sure. But of course, this show is brought to you by the fine folks at the Draft King Sportsbook app,

Starting point is 00:00:38 America's top rated sportsbook app. We are so glad to have you guys here. Welcome on in. Leah is screaming at Jesse already for not. That can be good. If Leah is screaming at me for not having seen something, it's usually pretty egregious. So that's not a good sign.

Starting point is 00:00:56 That's very true. But we have a lot to talk about, of course. There's a lot to talk about when it comes to the rumor circulating around the Arizona Diamondbacks and what they might end up doing, Jesse, this off season. Our friend, my friend, I don't know about you. I don't know how close you guys are.

Starting point is 00:01:13 I know how close we are, but Gambo, aka John Gambadoro. He reported that the debacks are zeroing in on some bullpen pieces, possibly before the winter meetings. And he said, think younger when given a list of veterans.

Starting point is 00:01:30 So he was saying that the veterans that were offered up to him as potential, potential targets for the Diamondback, were potentially too old, which makes sense. They've already targeted some vets. It didn't work out for them last season. I could definitely see Mike Hayeson pivoting and going in a direction of some of some younger

Starting point is 00:01:50 names. Well, I have to start by saying this is the one year anniversary of the Diamondback signing the one and only Mark Millington. Why would you do that? Why would you do that? To a two-year contract. That was a year ago today. And if any of you, if any of you are trying to make the case,

Starting point is 00:02:08 that you were not overjoyed that the Diamondbacks have landed Mark the Lance, and I do not believe you because I was also among those people who thought it was about as good a move as it possibly could have made at the time. But anyway, we'll get into a little bit more of what was going on a year ago today because there's a whole lot more there to talk about later in the show. But as far as the Diamondbacks bullpen candidates go, it was interesting that, yeah, Gambo basically responded to this, tweet that was put out at him with some different possible names.

Starting point is 00:02:41 Most of the names there, like you alluded to, were, you know, above the age of 35, roughly, although Andrew Chafin was also on the list. He's 32. So it's not like everyone was Mark Melanson's age or anything. But suffice it to say there were some older guys on the list, Gambo did come back and reply to that tweet and say, think younger and take all of those guys off of your list. We love how Gambo is always, you know, he doesn't, he doesn't, he doesn't shy away from having a very strong opinion one way or the other, which is fair.

Starting point is 00:03:16 I mean, he's going based off of what his sources are telling him. So there's certainly nothing wrong with that. But it seems like when trying to figure out who the diamondbacks might be interested in as far as their bullpen goes, it seems like we should be setting our sights maybe a little bit younger than we have in the past. And we have a few names here that we can run down. Yes, there are a couple of names that Jesse and I, kind of came up with in regards to who are free agent. They cross over in that Venn diagram of free agent and young.

Starting point is 00:03:48 Carlos Estevez Michael Fulmer, Matt Strom, Alex Reyes, and once again, Black Friday deal, Trevor Williams. Yeah, this is, these are guys that are, these are guys that are just like a little bit younger, right? So I think Carlos Estevez, I want to say, is 30, maybe 29, 29 or 30. Trevor Williams is 30. Alex Reyes is a little bit younger. He was just non-tendered by the St. Louis Cardinals.

Starting point is 00:04:18 So he's maybe something of a by-low candidate right now. But yeah, I basically just made a list of some of the guys who are out there who are on the younger side. Maybe they haven't turned 30 yet or maybe they just turn 30. So, yeah, that's what I'm kind of trying to get out with some of these names. Again, the Diamondbacks don't have confirmed. interest in any of these names as far as we know. So we're still kind of in that stage of speculating, kind of trying to take what Gambo said and figure out what it might mean with some actual guys that are out there in the market. I do think Carlos Estevez is interesting, though.

Starting point is 00:04:50 Just the fact that he averaged 97.5 with his four seamer last year with the Colorado Rockies, the fact that he had a pretty good season for them overall. It's not easy to have, you know, like a mid-3-ERA pitching half of your games in that ballpark. So, I know the numbers for Carlos Estevez haven't always looked that good necessarily if you look at his career on the whole. But there's not that many guys out there, you know, that throw 97, 98 miles an hour with consistency that would be in the diamondbacks price range. So I think I think Carlos Estevez out of all of these names is the one that probably stands out to me the most. We got some comments. Michael in the comments says Trevor Williams would be another ASU deed back.

Starting point is 00:05:31 They have a couple of those. Brian Abdallah says anything is better at this point. in my opinion. And Josh Hunt says, love you guys, go Spain. I think that means he's not watching us. I think that's what that means.

Starting point is 00:05:42 I think that means we're muted in the background right now. Fine. I'm fine with it. I'm okay with that. Gambo also mentioned that the debacks may search the international market and that for a starting pitcher and specifically referred to Tamayuki Sugano. I think I'm saying that right out of Japan as a possibility. But who knows,

Starting point is 00:06:02 I'm probably butchering it. And that, you know, of course, again, international signings aren't off the table right now for the debacks. So far, it's it's had advantages. It's worked at times. And I mean, I don't know if you can call Merrill Kelly an international signing, but considering they brought them over from Korea, I, you know, I would say that's right up there with scouting other markets besides just here in the States, right? Yeah, it's interesting that he was talking specifically about starting pitchers, how the debacks might be looking for a starting. picture on the international market. That's not necessarily something that I saw coming. Yeah, the name that he mentioned, Tomoyuki Sugano, which, yeah, I'm probably butchering that

Starting point is 00:06:44 worse than you did. Brian was with us. He said that that sounded right. So, okay, we're getting okay. All right. All right. But yeah, Sugano is an interesting guy who's out there. If you look at his numbers over the last couple of years in Japan, they're pretty impressive. He is 33 years old. He just turn 33 in October. His numbers this past year in 2022. He had a 3.1-2 ERA, I guess a 3.32 ERA. He had some innings at a couple of different places. A 3.32 ERA altogether in 149 innings.

Starting point is 00:07:21 Not a lot of strikeouts, only 105, but also very few walks as well. He had 28 throughout the entire season, which is a really low number for 149 innings. He's a guy who I looked back. last couple of years, there's been some questions surrounding him and whether or not he would be posted over the last two off seasons. So this has kind of been a long time coming. So yeah, it's not a name that we've really heard much of anything about in just major league baseball rumors at large. No one else has really talked about him. But it does seem like the debacks could use a guy who could give them some stability in the starting rotation. Seems not ideal that he's right-handed. I think the

Starting point is 00:08:01 diamondbacks would maybe prefer a lefty, but you're not necessarily going to find that easily on the international market. So we'll up to see what happens here. Brian in the comment says last time they went to this well, we got Yoshi out of it, which was nice. I like Toronto. Orano was a fine bullpen edition. Yeah. And of course, I like the fact that the diamondbacks, I know I wasn't on yesterday's show, but that the diamondbacks seem to be all in on perhaps some of these bigger free agent names that we didn't think that they would be tempted to spend the money. money on or go after at this point. To be honest,

Starting point is 00:08:34 do you want to give us your Zander Bogart's take real quick, Derek? I have a hard time believing it. That's my personal opinion. I mean, I'm not trying. I feel like the Diamondbacks aren't, it's, it's almost, it's almost right in that realm of them doing something,

Starting point is 00:08:54 you know, big, making a big free agent splash when they think this team is close to being ready. But I just don't know if this team, is actually as close to being ready as as they think it is. I mean, they could see the projections and be getting excited about that.

Starting point is 00:09:11 It was something we joked about them being tempted by. But when you start seeing multiple projections for your team to be a plus 500 team, the way it is now without any additions, it has to be a temptation to go out there and add two or three big free agent names. I just don't know if the Diamondbacks. are going to do that. So if you're not going to do that, if you're not going to make this team substantially better

Starting point is 00:09:36 and swing for the fences right now, then I don't see the point in just going after one when this team is so good right now. And I feel like Xander Bogarts is going to cost you a lot of money more than the diamondbacks really want to spend. So again, it's putting all of your eggs in that basket versus maybe spreading it around a little bit more

Starting point is 00:09:56 and going after maybe some, you know, some of these bullpen free agents that really, really was your big problem last year. The team didn't have an issue generating offense or they really didn't have that many issues with starting pitching. To be honest, the issue with starting pitching, it mostly lies at Madison Bumgarner, and that's not really going to change next season. I don't see them putting him anywhere else besides the starting rotation.

Starting point is 00:10:21 So like that's still going to be a liability once every five games. And you're also, you know, still have, you know, some question marks, but you have some, honestly, some very, very talented guys that are young guys that are still improving at the back end of that rotation that could very easily be the answer to their starting rotation woes that they had last season. I like the way that this team is constructed. I don't really think that they need to go out there and spend that much money just on one particular free agent. But if they're going to do it, they have so much of a gap between them and their competition in the N. West. So they're, you know, they're going to have to start spending really if they want to hang

Starting point is 00:11:06 with some of these teams. Even the Colorado Rockies have a substantially higher payroll than the Diamondbacks do. They're just not really doing much with it. Yeah. Yeah. And I mean, there's also the positional issues that we talked about yesterday. Like, wait, doesn't Bogart's play shortstop? And it sounds like he wants to stay there and isn't Jordan Lawler like less than a year away. There's a lot of sort of conflicting things happening there. And yeah, I still, just to kind of reiterate and build off of what I said yesterday, the more I think about it, it just doesn't seem like Xander Bogart's at, you know, six years, 160, 170 million, whatever it winds up being. I don't, I don't know if I believe that Zander Bogart's will age that well. I mean,

Starting point is 00:11:52 he broke into the league at 20. He's already in his, he's finishing up his, just, finished up, I should say, his 10th season in the big leagues. I think you're, at this point, you're kind of paying him for what he has been, not really for the player that he will be, which is sort of always how free agency works. But when you're signing a guy to like a six or seven year deal, you're really going to feel that, especially in those latter years. And I just, I don't think that there might be a guy out there where that is an investment that Diamondback should make.

Starting point is 00:12:22 But I'm just not really sure that Xander Bogarts is really that guy. I couldn't agree more. I couldn't agree more. And I don't really think that investing in your future, when your future is Jordan Lawler, at that position is worth it, right? Especially considering you could get not only an equivalent performance potentially from Lawler,

Starting point is 00:12:43 but he could end up being a better player than Zander Bogart's. I mean, he was once, or still is, a very highly touted prospect and could fulfill that. He could end up being that. So I don't know. I just don't think that that's the move. I'm still surprised that that is something that the diamondbacks are linked to instead of, you know, Justin Verlander or somebody of, you know, like that.

Starting point is 00:13:07 Again, starting pitching, I still understand them pursuing that. And I still understand the debacks, you know, wanting to pursue somebody that has worked with Brent Strom before, somebody that has a very high pedigree as far as pitching goes. Verlander to me just fits the mold for the kind of guy that Diamondbacks would pursue. And I know I've said that jokingly, but he really does fit the mold of the kind of guy the Diamondbacks would pay at this point in his career of ridiculous amount of money to come over here

Starting point is 00:13:37 and not be as good as he once was, which is the story with the last two guys essentially that the Diamondbacks went after like that. Right. Yeah, yeah. I haven't heard any Justin Verlander rumors just yet. I don't necessarily expect to. So maybe we should tap breaks there. Right. No, absolutely. Absolutely.

Starting point is 00:13:58 And for his asking price, I'm very, very glad to hear that the diamondbacks are not attached to Burlander in any way. But yeah, Brian Abdallah is the best point. If he brings us Kate up to, I mean, it might be worth the money. Anyway, Gabriel, I have to acknowledge Gabriel's comment. He said, I think Mike Hayes and accidentally butt dialed Zanderthardtokartz's agent. That's a very valid. That's a very valid point.

Starting point is 00:14:25 And I think it's probably the case. Anyway, I'll tell you something else that's worth the money. Getting yourself a PHNX diehard's membership. Join us over here. We're all about the three Cs. The state's all about what, five Cs. I don't remember, Jesse. It's been a long time since I was in school.

Starting point is 00:14:39 But three Cs over here, culture, community, and content. We're giving you a free PHNX shirt or hat every year, 20% off every merchandise order at the PHNX locker. exclusive merchandise for diehards only, that membership card and a sticker pack to prove your diehard, as well as diehard only offers from our partners, 20% off tailgates and takeovers for every team in town. Of course, the diehards only Discord lounge, which is the best place to be an Arizona sports fan. And our diehards only newsletter from PHNX beatwriters like our very own Jesse Friedman. Jesse, what do you got cooking?

Starting point is 00:15:16 We have a newsletter coming this afternoon. And I can, I'll actually, since we're so close, I'll go ahead and actually tell people what it's about. I'm basically looking into the rule changes for 2023, specifically bigger bases. And the fact that there is now a limit on how many disengagement, officially they're called. It's basically how many step-offs or pick-off attempts a pitcher can have during a given plate appearance. And those two things put together, Derek, I think will jumpstart the running game, not just across baseball. but specifically for the Arizona Diamondbacks who have a number of players who I think are well equipped to benefit from those things. So if you want to read more about some things with regard to the Diamondbacks base running and how good they've been at base running over the last few years

Starting point is 00:16:05 and how much better it could possibly be next year, that'll be up later today. Bigger bases, harder to cover, right? harder to tag someone out when they're sliding in with that speed that the Diamondbacks have on the base path. So that's fantastic. Of course, if you're watching us right now on the PHNX sports YouTube channel, we thank you guys for being here and spending your lunch with us. Make sure to subscribe to this channel.

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Starting point is 00:16:52 We'd love to hear from you and have that feedback. And also, it's Cyberweek over at Moore Furniture. So if you haven't had a chance to do so, save yourself up to 50% over at morefurniture.com. And of course, make sure that you let them know that I don't beat up my chair anymore. Look, I put the bat away earlier. So maybe you guys can put in a good word for me over at more furniture. Jesse, we have a guy to talk about. We have some grades to give out. It is time for us to grade Christian Walker's 2002 season.

Starting point is 00:17:25 I've been looking forward to this one. Christian Walker had a really good year. And he's just, I don't know. He's kind of become a darling here in Arizona. I think there was a time when people were kind of wondering like, okay, Christian Walker was really good. you know, right after the debacks traded Goldschmidt and then maybe he kind of, you know, fell back to Earth a little bit. Maybe he isn't quite the player that we thought. And then he just had

Starting point is 00:17:48 the year that he just had. And now we're all ready to to gush about Christian Walker again. Gary Walden says that I look like Zach Davies. He does. Which is interesting. I've never, I've never heard that before. I think that's a compliment. I think that's a compliment, right? Yeah, yeah. You're, you're much, you're much kinder than Zach. Davies. We'll just say that based on allegations and things we've heard. But anyway, Christian Walker, though, just an outstanding first basement for the Arizona Diamondbacks quietly puts up some amazing numbers. It's kind of like when we brought up all season long, you know, his, just his defensive numbers. Obviously, his offensive numbers

Starting point is 00:18:29 grew as the season went on. His power was there all season, but his consistency at the plate grew. and but defensively he was just amazing all season long and and head head and shoulders above other first baseman yeah so i mean this is since 2019 um looking at outs above average which is statcast primary defense statistic and we've talked about this before but i have to bring this up because it's so insane since 2019 christian walker is a plus 33 and outs above average which is an enormous number for a first baseman. The next two guys on the leaderboard are Paul Goldschmidt and Matt Olson, who are at plus 11 and plus 12 respectively.

Starting point is 00:19:14 Christian Walker's at plus 33. He's literally triple the next two guys on the list. It's insane how good of a defender he's become, especially for a guy who wasn't even, like, I don't remember talking about Christian Walker's defense back in like 2018, 2019 when he was, you know first coming up and he had a long winding road to get to the big leagues everyone was talking about the power nobody was talking about how christian walker was about to lap the competition defensively over the next three years one thing i remember at that time for christian walker was living in the shadow of paulgolschmidt right uh there was at at the time there was more

Starting point is 00:19:55 focus on just comparing his numbers in general to what goldschmidt was doing and having a sense of satisfaction that this guy that we were paying, you know, the league minimum or whatever he was getting paid at the time, right, versus the guy that wanted this big payday. It looked to be a good deal. But I think it's also ways to compensate or to deal with Paul Goldschmidt leaving. Goldie was such a hero here. He was such the reluctant face of the team. And his, you know, losing him, left a big hole for people here. I really think that Christian Walker did an incredible job of filling that Goldschmidt-shaped hole in our hearts because he has been so good.

Starting point is 00:20:43 Of course, it makes it worse that Paul Goldschmidt continues to be one of the best first best first baseman in baseball now, currently MVP, all of that, right? But we still have a guy who's quietly putting up some fantastic numbers here. So as you said, outside of Paul Goldschmidt, maybe a guy named Freddie Freeman, are there any other first baseman you'd rather have at this point in the league? Just looking at some of the other guys that are out there that are considered, you know, the top guys. Like, there are some great names out there, but I don't know if I would necessarily feel a need to replace Christian Walker with any of these guys. Yeah, like I think the names that would come up for people first are probably Pete Along.

Starting point is 00:21:30 for the Mets, who is an outstanding player. The fact that Christian Walker is such an incredibly good defender, I think makes up for the fact that offensively, I think most people would probably take Pete Alonzo between the two. Matt Olson is a very good player. I don't think he was as valuable as Christian Walker this last year, especially once again taking into account the defense. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is the other name that I think a lot of people. would have probably head and shoulders above Christian Walker. That's just fun. That's just fun.

Starting point is 00:22:06 Yeah, which is, I mean, it's, it's just crazy to me that, like, this last year, if you look at the numbers, Christian Walker was a way more valuable first baseman than Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And I know, I think Vlad has some, you know, some better years ahead of him. Obviously, the future there is extremely bright and you're not going to bet against that guy. But, but I don't know. Like, would you rather have Anthony Rizzo? Like, I don't think so. not at this point of his career, right? Would you rather have Reese Hoskins from the Phillies? I probably not.

Starting point is 00:22:37 Like the offense is kind of similar and the defense just makes it. So the Christian Walker is just so much more valuable than other guys who might be sort of neck and neck with him offensively. The clutch Canuck in the comment says what's very encouraging about last year was Walker's health. I think fans underestimate how important he is long term. That's absolutely the truth. This man took a 96 mile per hour fastball off the helmet and just shook it off and had a black eye and wanted to come out and still play. I had to go in a concussion protocol to make sure he didn't have a concussion.

Starting point is 00:23:10 But man, this guy is tough. And we've seen him be a little injured, I think, in some past seasons. But 2002, he had an outstanding season when it came to durability. And actually, that is one of our categories. on our report cards for the 2020 season for Christian Walker. Jesse, you want to go first? I'll go first. Let's do it. So here is my Christian Walker report card for his 2022 season.

Starting point is 00:23:42 Some of these may come as a surprise. I imagine most of them are maybe what people would expect. So I have hit at C-plus. This year was kind of an interesting journey for Christian Walker. And that remember Derek when he was hitting like a buck-90- for like the first two months of the year. Oh, I remember. And everyone was like, oh, my gosh. Like, Christian Walker can't hit worth a darn.

Starting point is 00:24:04 And then as the year went on, you know, you kind of saw things correct. He winds up, you know, hitting around 240, 242 was his end of your batting average, which is really remarkable considering how low his batting average was through the first couple months of the year. I have an A minus for power, 36 homers. I mean, that's pretty good. I think it's possible that Christian Walker at his peak could do even better than that. Maybe he gets some more doubles in there as well at some point.

Starting point is 00:24:33 But by and large, it was a really successful year for him offensively in terms of power. As far as a base runner, this isn't really an important tool for Christian Walker. I'm giving him a C here. He is, I think, in general, a smart base runner in terms of taking the next base when he can and whatnot. He's not particularly fast necessarily, although he's a really, round league average in terms of sprint speed, which has some value for a first baseman. Field goes without saying A plus there. Can't go with anything else.

Starting point is 00:25:04 If I could add an extra plus, I would. Durability, I have an A for the reasons that you mentioned earlier. And then Dogginham, I'm giving him a B plus, which in some ways I feel like comes across as an insult, but I really don't intend it that way. I think Christian Walker has plenty of dogging him. And, you know, once he kind of got past the Babip gods early in the year, where his batting average on balls and play earlier in the year was just so abysmal for a while. Once he got past that, he had what was really an outstanding season when all of a sudden done. Well, Jesse, yesterday was a tough day for me because it was my father's funeral.

Starting point is 00:25:44 But it was made better by the fact that my nephew came up to me, gave me a hug. and he handed me a small bottle of tequila. Now, as promised, I'm going to take this shot of tequila on today's show. And the reason why I'm doing it at this point is not only in honor of Christian Walker's tiny bar in the clubhouse. I very much enjoyed all season long.

Starting point is 00:26:09 But I'm also taking this shot in honor of how close our two report cards are. So Leah would just sign up. Because as you see here, we ranked him very similarly. C plus and hit A plus obviously in power. I gave him a lot of A's right down the line. Running, yeah, C minus.

Starting point is 00:26:29 He not extremely fast. And he's kind of slowed down over the years. Maybe he just didn't need it as much this year because maybe his home run trot was factored in to his sprint speed. I'm not sure. But like you said, fielding, I would give him three more pluses if I could. durability the man got hit with a baseball wanted to play the next day or like the same game or something he's a crazy person and i love him for it and that's also why i'm giving him a minus for the dog in him

Starting point is 00:26:58 he stays calm and collect but i mean i rarely see christian walker leave the batting box uh after batters box after he struck out without having some words for somebody i don't know if they're for the umpire i don't know if they're for the catcher probably for like for himself Even for himself, right? I think Christian Walker holds himself to a very, very high standard. He really does. And I mean, all major league players, I think, probably do. I mean, that's why they're at the level that they are.

Starting point is 00:27:29 But yeah, if you see Christian Walker talking on the field, I'm going to bet it's probably just him, you know, maybe not measuring up to his own expectations for himself, which he holds himself to a really high standard. So that's hard to do. All right. I'm going to do this shot. It's going to be, um, let's go. I'm going to get wrong. So it's not bad. All right.

Starting point is 00:27:55 Got to wash it down with some four peaks. Is that what I thought I was there? Got some four peaks going on to wash it down. Of course, Ben in the comments asked which D-BACs player ranks highest for dogging him. And I know it's not, I know it's not Mailbag Monday,

Starting point is 00:28:12 but Ben, no, I didn't have a line. Sorry, I was. Yeah, you kind of have. I'm no, I'm, I'm, I'm, I'm, from a tequila aficionado, but you're kind of supposed to have the line, no? Yeah, you're right about that. I'm part of it. I want to back up and Ben says which D-Backs player ranks highest for dog and him,

Starting point is 00:28:29 and that answer is Josh Rojas. Is there any, is there any doubt? I, I think, I think I'm on board with that. I think I'm on board with that. I mean, we've already given out, like, like, didn't we give Zach Gallon A plus? And we probably gave Mero Kelly like an A or a. plus already. So I don't think I don't think we can come out and give

Starting point is 00:28:50 like anyone a D and dogging him. I don't think it's that kind of a category. It just doesn't. Mark Mlanson. That way. Mark Mlanson. Mark Mlanson, Jesse. We're not grading the man. We're grading his 2022 season and he gets a fucking

Starting point is 00:29:06 D. Let me tell you. Anyway, before we move on to our, wait, do we have overall grades or was that it? Is that it, Leah? Oh, okay. Yeah, we do. Oh. We can talk. We can talk about our overall great. Yeah, no, yeah, absolutely. Well, I gave him an A. I mean, there was no, there was like obviously early on he struggled like a student in school, right?

Starting point is 00:29:35 You want to see improvement. You want to see somebody try harder pick up the slack. Even if they had Fs early on, sometimes you might even give them that extra, that extra boost because you see him trying so hard and whatever, right? but Christian Walker defensively, you can't argue with them having an A plus season through and through. And offensively, it wasn't like you can't, you can't be really mad about his lack of hitting, you know, consistency when he had the power he did. But once both of those were kind of online late in the season, I couldn't help but give him, you know, the grade for his overall performance. And Ben said, plus he had COVID and came back, which is difficult. So like, yeah, there is a lot of that. going on. And I think that, I don't know, he was just one of the guys that doesn't really get,

Starting point is 00:30:21 doesn't get the credit he deserves. Maybe he doesn't get like the flowers he deserves because he's in a market like Arizona. I feel like if he was in some place like New York or one of the bigger markets, that he would probably be a name that a lot of people discuss more as being one of the top first baseman in the league. Yeah. Oh, I think there's no, there's no question. I'm going to go slightly harsher. I have an a minus for Christian Walker on the season. Mostly, mostly just because he hit 242. And that is something we've seen Christian Walker in years past have a higher batting average than that. And I really think he can. And again,

Starting point is 00:31:01 part of that is just because of how unlucky he was earlier, early in the season. It seemed like every, you know, every hardline drive was right at a defender every single time form for a couple months there. Um, so yeah, like his expected stats were still quite a bit better than his actual stats at the end of the year. So I think there's another level for him to reach. And that's crazy to say because something we haven't said yet is that if you look at fan graphs wins above replacement, it's Paul Goldschmidt, it's Freddie Freeman, and then it's Christian Walker.

Starting point is 00:31:34 He graded out as the third most valuable first baseman in all of baseball this year. And I'm going to go out on a limb, Derek. And to answer our question that we posed in the headline today is, Christian Walker baseball's most underrated first baseman, I think the answer is honestly an easy yes. He graded out as the third best guy in all of baseball. Obviously, everyone knows who Freddie Freeman and Paul Goldschmidt are at this point. But people still don't know who Christian Walker is.

Starting point is 00:32:04 Like Anthony Rizzo is way more recognizable at this point in his career, which is understandable given what he did with the Cubs. But all those names that we mentioned earlier, I think get more name credit than Christian Walker, even though Christian Walker was really just a better player at the end of the day in 2022. Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. And I agree with you 100%. And of course, shout out to the official chaser of that shot for Peaks Brewing Company. Of course, we've told you guys that this is where our official World Cup parties are at. You can enjoy beer specials, giveaways, guest appearances this Saturday. We're looking. Looking forward to cheering on Team USA. If you aren't able to make it, have a toast to the red, white, and blue with the four peaks that you pick up wherever you get your beers. But of course, give the gift of beer this holiday season. Four Peaks still has limited supplies of their December Advent calendar box, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:32:59 I get a beer every single day. It's just like this show. For $55, enjoy specialty beers, tall boys, and more purchase at their 8th Street pub in Tempe. Of course, come on out for our watch parties. have been an absolute blast. It's madness out there if you want. I know I know how it is. Sometimes with things you like or things you're into, your friends might be

Starting point is 00:33:20 not into, your co-host might not like soccer, and then you don't know who to hang out with. Come hang out with us at the 8th Street Pub. It's the best place to be. Of course, as always, make sure to be 21 or over to consume their wonderful beers and enjoy responsibly. And also

Starting point is 00:33:36 Jesse, I want to give a shout out to our friends at OGs, because OGs is been keeping me sane during this time of basically being locked up in my house a lot. I haven't been feeling well. You haven't been feeling well. We're staying away from each other so we don't get each other sick or anybody else sick. Leah's, uh, Leah's, Leah's away.

Starting point is 00:33:58 We're all away. We're all staying, trying to stay as healthy as possible. But of course, for me personally, OGs is making it fun. They make everything better. And they're all about flavoring life with their wonderful variety of flavors and doses and strains that you can find, get them at your local dispensary, must be 21 years or older to enjoy and enjoy responsibly. And honestly, Jesse, I'm ready to give out. I know, again, I know it's not the season. I know it's not time to actually give out performance grades or anything, but I'm

Starting point is 00:34:27 ready to give out the OG's performance to forget. Let's go. It's OG's performance to forget, and I'm ready to forget these freezing cold takes, Jesse. I'm giving the performance to forget to these freezing cold takes from last off season. Last off season was awful. One year ago today, the MLB hot stove was absolute madness, of course, because the beginning of the lockout was a year ago tomorrow, which, yeah, well, really, I mean, it was, it was, it was at like, it was at like 12.1 a.m. Eastern time on December 2nd. So it was really like 10 o'clock, like basically 10 o'clock tonight. was it will be officially the one year anniversary of the beginning of the lockout. And that lockout Derek lasted for 99 days.

Starting point is 00:35:19 I know, what was my date? I think I had like January, like 31st or something was the day the lockout was going to end. And then I get. Boy, was I dead wrong. I gave Valentine's Day. I thought that that usually Valentine's Day is when pitchers and catchers report around Valentine's Day. I thought it would be a nice move for that. them to like lock this up before they could you know go spend time with your significant other

Starting point is 00:35:44 enjoy the valentine's day right no no they're not lovers jesse MLB is fighting and we found that out what's your fondest memory did you do you do you remember how naive we were at the beginning of the lockout i wish we had i wish we had uh the recording of of how how how innocent we were and how we thought that this was yeah done in no time because of course there was going to be that forced pressure about the, you know, lockout impacting the season. And apparently they really didn't mind doing that, but just a little bit, right? It's like just, it's like when you want someone to move and you're threatening to hit them with your car, but you don't really hit them with your car, but you kind of like bump them a

Starting point is 00:36:28 little bit. Like that's the MLB and the players association, they bumped, they bumped the season being impacted, but they didn't quite smash into it. and cause any damage because obviously we still got a season. But looking back on what was written and what was said at that time, nobody knew that lockout was going to be that long. So, of course, there was articles written about the deals that were going to be done, especially right there in that period of time right before the lockout.

Starting point is 00:37:00 Chris in the comment says, note, avoid Derek in parking lots. No, there's not, look, it was a metaphor. I do not actually Well, okay. Anyway, Jesse, some of these were kind of funny looking back on what happened. These were some

Starting point is 00:37:17 articles that were put together where multiple analysts gave their takes on where they thought some of the big name free agents were going to go. And I think every single one of them were wrong, just about. A lot of people had Carlos Correa

Starting point is 00:37:31 going on a 10-year deal to the Detroit Tigers. That seemed to be the popular, that seemed to be the popular bet back then. Try a one-year deal to the twins. Nice try. Everybody had Corey Seeger going to the Yankees for 10 years. I remember that being a popular connection,

Starting point is 00:37:55 Seeger to the Yankees. And then, of course, he went to the Texas Rangers. So those people were also like, yeah, still somewhat inexplicably. None of us really fully understand what was going on there yet. But maybe the Texas Rangers get a little bit better next year. We'll see. Maybe Marcus Simeon, six years to either of the L.A. teams or Boston. Interesting.

Starting point is 00:38:20 Interesting. Kevin Gousman, six years, San Francisco Giants. Chris Bryant, six years Seattle Mariners. Freddie Freeman, six years staying with the Braves. Obviously, none of those things happen. And it was kind of hard to find any, like, predictions that actually came true. The only ones I found typically were people that predicted that someone that resigned with their same team was going to do that. And aside from those, no, there were not a lot of, there were not a lot of correct takes out there, Jesse.

Starting point is 00:38:53 So that's why the clutch, the clutch Canucks says Trevor Plouffe predicting white socks over brewers in seven. Yikes. I did not know that Trevor Puth. I don't know where you. I mean, I guess the White Sox were predicted to be like one of the rising teams coming into 2022. So I guess I can see that. But the Milwaukee Brewers coming out of the National League, that's a pretty bold, that's a pretty bold take.

Starting point is 00:39:21 I don't know, I don't know where you would possibly be led to that conclusion in the National League. There are a lot of very, very good teams. Baseball is wild because it really is one of the only sports where that actually at the beginning of the season sounded probably reasonable versus now after the season, how unreasonable it sounds. Baseball really is the only sport that at times when you look at the World Series, you kind of find yourself going, how the fuck did this happen, right? Like, you know, there were favorites that season. You remember them being good.

Starting point is 00:39:54 And then that's not at all who ended up winning the championship or even being there at the end. So I guess baseball is kind of fun. like that. I mean, football, you can, you have a good idea of who's going to be good in football. There are factors there, injuries being a major one, but that's in any sport, right? Any, any sport can be impacted by injuries. I really feel like baseball, though. It's the only one that you really find yourself kind of scratching your head at what end up happening after the season versus where your, where your thoughts were at the beginning. But of course, before we let you guys go, I got to give you my draft king's pick of the week. I know, I know. It's that time. And I'm sorry,

Starting point is 00:40:31 but I can't help Jesse. Don't any of you listen. Don't whatever the bet is, just say no. Just smash the Buffalo Bills button over the New England Patriots. That's what I want you to do. I don't care in what way. I don't care in what capacity. I know Josh Allen is still probably not right with his arms.

Starting point is 00:40:53 So I wouldn't go too high on passing yards or any other those legs that you might want to add to your same game parlay. but yeah, man, I can't see the Buffalo Bills. Right now they're a three and a half point favorite. I can't see them not covering that. So go put all your money on the Buffalo Bills. Don't listen to Jesse telling you don't listen to me. Go with it. Download the app now.

Starting point is 00:41:16 Use our code PHNX if you've never done this before. Place a $5 pregame money line bet on any NBA team to win their game. Do that on the Sons. And you will get $150 in free bets if they do. That's code PHNX only at the Drafking Sportsbook app. minimum agent eligibility restrictions apply see show notes for details uh brian abdales says i might get smashed by other bills if i do this um yeah well i know i'm sorry about that uh but hey trying to try to make you money here guys i'll put i'll put i'll put my money on this one that way i can maybe back it up

Starting point is 00:41:48 but of course uh we thank you guys for spending your lunch with us we thank you guys so far for stopping by uh the clutch canuck in the comments said the guardians really surprised me i don't know You mean that from the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special? Or are you talking about from the perspective of the team? Just for clarification, the Guardians of the Galaxy holiday special is delightful. Go watch that. But anyway. I don't think you would refer to that as The Guardians.

Starting point is 00:42:12 I think you would be a little bit more specific if you're talking about the holiday special. That's what I call them. They're The Guardian. Speaking of which, I am giving you your next movie assignment. Now, I know next week you are going to be away. You are flying away to San Diego And you are going there to cover the winter meetings So when you come back from that trip

Starting point is 00:42:36 I want your review of National Lampoon's Christmas vacation That will be the next Jesse hasn't seen it movie But that's not a baseball movie is it doesn't matter No we're not just doing We did Shoshank Redemption Did they play well I guess did they play baseball in Shoshang Redemption? I think they play baseball in the yard At one point

Starting point is 00:42:54 Maybe they do Anyway, it doesn't matter. You got to go watch it. Go watch it. Give us your thoughts. Can't wait to hear it because that's what this hat and this shirt. And it's all from. It's December 1st.

Starting point is 00:43:03 It's Christmas time. I'm excited. I guess we can. That makes sense. Like we're doing baseball movies, but now that it's December, we do a few Christmas-related movies and then maybe we shift back to baseball in January. I'm on board.

Starting point is 00:43:15 Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. We got, Leah says they played catch in Shawshanky W. Yes, they do. They do play catch. So, yep, that qualifies. Right. I don't know.

Starting point is 00:43:23 Do they hit something? Leah says Christmas vacation is the best Christmas movie in all caps. She's not wrong. Wow. Okay. Clutch Connect says or Scrooge with Bill Murray, which is another fantastic choice. But of course, I have to wrap it up. I love talking with you guys.

Starting point is 00:43:39 Let's hit up the Discord. We'll keep chatting about the best Christmas movies. In the meantime, you can follow us on Twitter. I am at Cap underscore Caveman with a K. Jesse is at Jesse and Friedman. Our show is at P.HNX underscore Dbacks. But of course, all roads lead to at PHNX.X. underscore sports on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Starting point is 00:43:57 Thank you guys again for joining us on behalf of Leah, Jesse, and myself. We always appreciate your time. And remember, kids, baseball is fun, but it's so much more fun when you were right about where players were going to go in free agency.

PHNX Arizona Diamondbacks Podcast - Is Christian Walker baseball’s most underrated first baseman?

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