With Yordan Alvarez hurt and Jose Altuve slumping, ex-Cowboys QB goes scorched earth on Christian Walker

After splitting the four-game series against rivals the Texas Rangers, the Houston Astros fell to a series defeat against the Tampa Bay Rays this week, despite winning the series opener.

The consecutive defeats against the Rays highlighted Houston's hitting woes this season with superstar slugger Jose Altuve slumping in his role as a designated hitter.

Altuve is batting .238 this season and went 2-for-11 in the three-game series against the Rays. The Astros' problems have been compounded by Christian Walker's productivity at the plate.

Former Dallas Cowboys QB Clint Stoerner grilled Walker for his performances this season after signing for the Astros in the offseason. Stoerner expected great things from Walker but has been let down by the slugger on the back of his strong year in 2024. He said "On The Drive with Stoerner & Hughley,"

"I am very, very fascinated with this Christian Walker situation. He is hitting .199? and it is not good. He got hit in his last at-bat, so he's 4-for-39, right? Well, this is not good. The first base situation with the Astros has the fans' attention. Christian Walker has been an absolute disappointment at first base so far with the bat.

""I expected him to fill in nicely with Altuve and Jordan Alvarez and be a steady force. As a veteran, he's supposed to be one of the top three bats, instead, we've seen a struggle, like, I think right now, forget the expectations of who he is, just the everyday starters. I think he's the one that has just continued to slump."

The Astros are also dealing with injury concerns to Yordan Alvarez, who has been on the sidelines since May 5. Alvarez was reported to make a swift return but his hand injury is keeping him out longer than expected.

Astros manager backs Christian Walker amid struggles

The Astros signed Christian Walker on a three-year, $60 million contract with a positional shift in the infield after Alex Bregman walked into free agency at the end of the 2024 season.

While Walker has a hit in the series finale against the Rays, the veteran infielder went on a 16-at-bat hitless streak last week. Despite his struggles, Astros manager Joe Espada backed the slugger.

"I think that would be overreacting if I would do something like that," Espada said on moving Walker in the lineup. "Because I really like his approach, he hit some balls hard (Thursday). He just needs to be a little bit more lucky and get some balls in the air."

The Astros will need to bounce back from their series defeat as they face division rivals the Seattle Mariners in a three-game series. The Mariners are 3.5 games ahead of the Astros at the top of the American League West.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash