BIOGRAPHY
Christian Walker was born March 28, 1991, in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He is a first baseman in the MLB.
Walker attended Kennedy-Kenrick Catholic High School in Norristown, Pennsylvania. He was drafted by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 49th round of the 2009 Major League Baseball draft, but did not sign. Walker attended the University of South Carolina and played college baseball for the South Carolina Gamecocks from 2010 to 2012. While there, he helped the Gamecocks win the College World Series in 2010 and 2011. He also helped the team reach the 2012 College World Series, where they lost to the Arizona Wildcats. He finished tied with Dustin Ackley for most career hits in the College World Series. Overall in his career at South Carolina, he played in 206 games and hit 336/.427/.533 with 30 home runs and 137 runs batted in. In 2011, he played collegiate summer baseball with the Harwich Mariners of the Cape Cod Baseball League.
Walker was called up to the bigs as a 1st baseman and played in 11 games in 2017 for the Diamondbacks, batting .250 with 2 homers. He played in 37 games in 2018, for a .163 average with 3 home runs.
In 2019, Walker hit .259/.348/.476 with 29 home runs and 73 RBIs. He had a 9 Defensive Runs Saved (DRS) rating, the best in the National League among first basemen, and led all major league first basemen with 139 assists. In the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, he hit .271/.333/.459 with 7 home runs and 34 RBIs.
In 2022, Walker was awarded a Gold Glove for his defensive performance.
Walker signed a one-year deal to stay with the Arizona Diamondbacks following the 2023 season.
