Walker has won three consecutive Gold Gloves and posted three straight seasons with an OPS+ over 120. That production earned him a $20 million annual payday from the Astros after a great run with the Diamondbacks. The offense will be carried by Walker, Jose Altuve, and Yordan Alvarez, which could be enough to replace Tucker.

The Diamondbacks' former Gold Glove winner is dealing with a similar injury to the one that sidelined him in 2024.

Here are three things we’ll be watching for around baseball today: Christian Walker was removed from the Astros’ spring training matchup against the Cardinals on Wednesday with soreness in his left oblique (per Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle ).

A couple other health updates from around baseball:

Astros first baseman Christian Walker was scratched from the lineup prior to Wednesday’s game against the Cardinals with left oblique soreness. He missed more than a month last season with the D-backs due to a strained left oblique.

The Houston Astros made an aggressive move to bring in Christian Walker this offseason. While third base and outfield got the majority of attention, finding a s