Don't look now but Christian Walker is starting to heat up...

[Ed-die... Ed-die]

Couldn't help but notice that Walker has had 3 strong games in a row.

7 for 13

2 doubles

1 home run

2 RBI

6 runs scored

It's nice to see him starting to heat up.

[Enjoy Terror]

For those tracking:

<pre>

SPLIT TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS

April NOR 20 78 9 16 3 0 0 4 8 0 20 0 1 .205 .279 .244 .523

May NOR 28 107 8 29 9 0 2 8 5 0 26 0 0 .271 .301 .411 .712

June NOR 21 81 16 25 7 0 1 11 11 1 23 0 1 .309 .394 .432 .826</pre>

[sportsfan8703]

The bats are starting to heat up down there. Walker has a ton of doubles. Hopefully those will start to be homers.

[Frobby]

For those tracking:

<pre>

SPLIT TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS

April NOR 20 78 9 16 3 0 0 4 8 0 20 0 1 .205 .279 .244 .523

May NOR 28 107 8 29 9 0 2 8 5 0 26 0 0 .271 .301 .411 .712

June NOR 21 81 16 25 7 0 1 11 11 1 23 0 1 .309 .394 .432 .826</pre>

Very encouraging when it's broken down this way. Thanks for posting.

[Frobby]

There is still too much swing and miss with Walker. Even in June he has 23 strikeouts in 81 AB's. That's too high for him, IMO. I just see him swing through too many fastballs. Again, IMO, I think his swing has gotten longer and he's too far off the plate. Maybe that's the way he's always been but I remember him being a little bit shorter to the ball and closer to the plate.

I always appreciate your assessment of our minor leaguers, especially at Norfolk, because I know you watch a lot of the games. Now that's where my wife would draw the line!

[Rene88]

I always appreciate your assessment of our minor leaguers, especially at Norfolk, because I know you watch a lot of the games. Now that's where my wife would draw the line!

$50 a year for MILB.TV on your phone, she will never know:)

[Slade-OH]

For those tracking:

<pre>

SPLIT TEAM G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB IBB SO SB CS AVG OBP SLG OPS

April NOR 20 78 9 16 3 0 0 4 8 0 20 0 1 .205 .279 .244 .523

May NOR 28 107 8 29 9 0 2 8 5 0 26 0 0 .271 .301 .411 .712

June NOR 21 81 16 25 7 0 1 11 11 1 23 0 1 .309 .394 .432 .826</pre>

Trending in the right direction. Needs to cut those strikeouts down.

[jabba72]

If he could average out his June over an entire season he might look like a 1B prospect. I think Parmelee has the inside track for 1B if Davis leaves. Unless Duquette finds a replacement in AAA somewhere.

[eb45]

There is still too much swing and miss with Walker. Even in June he has 23 strikeouts in 81 AB's. That's too high for him, IMO. I just see him swing through too many fastballs. Again, IMO, I think his swing has gotten longer and he's too far off the plate. Maybe that's the way he's always been but I remember him being a little bit shorter to the ball and closer to the plate.

You're not misremembering. Short swing path was always one of Walker's biggest strengths. Kind of concerning if it's deserted him.

[waroriole]

Guy just doesn't seem like he's going to hit enough to be a starter on a good team.

[Ed-die... Ed-die]

Just checking the last two games (this weekend: Friday and today)... and Christian is apparently playing really well.

On Friday, he went 2-4 and doubled in the tying run in the 10th - then scored the winning run later in the inning. Rain out on Saturday - but today went 3-5 with a homer to win it in the 9th.

Zero strikeouts in the 2 games, 1 BB, 3 RBI --- along with his 20th double & 4th HR... and his batting average has spiked up to .273.

A good weekend --- looks like he's finding his groove as June ends. Hoping he has figured out how to battle AAA pitching and the Norfolk ballpark.

[25 Nuggets]

If he could average out his June over an entire season he might look like a 1B prospect. I think Parmelee has the inside track for 1B if Davis leaves. Unless Duquette finds a replacement in AAA somewhere.

I think most of us do at this point -- but Walker may still make the 2016 team as a RH reserve 1B/DH, especially if Pearce also leaves.

[eb45]

A home run from May 2014.

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=32935553&sid=milb

A home run from July 2014

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=34333845&sid=milb

A home run at Norfolk in August after promotion

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=35112613&sid=milb

A home run from this May (2015) with Norfolk.

http://www.milb.com/multimedia/vpp.jsp?content_id=130001783&sid=milb

Not sure I can really see anything. Maybe someone else can. Looks like he started out last year in more of a crouch if you look at the first video and got a little straight up with knees more slighty bent. He did go on a power surge in May with 9 home runs, 15 walks and 19 strikeouts in 107 AB's. He actually started slumping in July at Bowie (.687 OPS) in 13 games before his promotion. He struck out 14 times in only 46 AB's. I was going to theorize that maybe Norfolk stadium got in his head and he lengthened his swing in order to generate more power but the numbers at Bowie suggest he may have started to regress even before the promotion. Why?

Four home run swings is not a great way to evaluate someone's swing, but I'm definitely seeing a noticeably longer bat path in the one from this year. It looks like he's deliberately trying to get more lag. I don't want to speculate on what might be causing that, but I think that your theory of him trying (consciously or otherwise) to adjust to the bigger park might have something to it.