Speaker 1: Joining us now, I'm about Thomas Show and Rosses promised
our friend Christian Walker will be soon after he finishes
the Major League for an analyst for Turner, NBC, ESPN, Peacock, Yahoo,
it will be some someplace for you to go, far
down the road, far down the road.
Speaker 2: He wants to club another on hundred and fifty home runs,
fre he calls at a career, it'll be nice. How
many you got all together? Now?
Speaker 1: I don't know, to be honest with you, Ye okay,
how about this. You look it up and try to guess.
Speaker 3: How I know I got one fifty over the course
of last year during the first half.
Speaker 2: This is a terrible guessing game.
Speaker 3: Now, I'd say one seventy one, one seventy four. I'm
glad I guess close though.
Speaker 4: That's good.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I didn't guess. It will have been weird if
you say four and fifty or so, then you gotta
get to two hundred this year. That's it.
Speaker 4: That's that's easy.
Speaker 2: That's low hanging fruit right there right.
Speaker 4: As first hals first half stuff.
Speaker 2: Baby, come on, now, let's hope so.
Speaker 1: Okay, uh so io in the clubhouse? How you lost
the weight and grown ass? Men usually don't do that,
but we just did. So you did you make it
a concerted effort to say I'm caring too much weight,
I want to drop ten pounds or how did you decide,
you know what, I'll go a little lean of this offseason.
Speaker 3: H Yeah, I mean a little bit of both. Step one,
I was having a baby. We had a baby last summer,
so first off season with its baby weight.
Speaker 4: She dad strength.
Speaker 5: Ye.
Speaker 3: No, apparently men hold on weight too, because there's some
hormon rests your body's prepping for sleepless nights or something.
Really I heard some Yeah. I was like, oh, that's
my excuse, go with that. Yeah.
Speaker 4: Yeah.
Speaker 3: But wanted to embrace parenting and not I feel like
so many people survive and you know, obviously the baby's
behavior has so much to do with that, more than
you know, we think. But just just wanted to really
make sure I had to grip on my discipline. Wanted
to make sure I was eating right, sleeping right, hydrating,
training to benefit obviously myself, but to be in a
good to be a dad and to be a husband,
and you know, parenting is a fun thing. So that
was at the forefront of my brain and wasn't necessarily
to like lose weight or I thought I was playing
too heavy last year, but you know, me playing it
two fifteen to twenty, I think is a is a
much cleaner spot than you know, maybe mid two twenties
or something.
Speaker 2: Have you noticed it so far?
Speaker 4: I'm running into some of the drills out there at
this point.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think my fault works a little cleaner. Hard
to tell.
Speaker 3: It's it's you know, when you spend time with it,
it's you don't see the big changes as much. But yeah,
I think I think long term too, maybe a little
less weight on the legs and helping recovery and all that.
Speaker 1: All right, Christian, you were first and second half numbers
were significantly different. Tell me about the first half. Tell
me about the oblique and how much that puts you
behind the eight ball in terms of getting off to a.
Speaker 2: Good astral career start. Yeah, I think, you know.
Speaker 3: As much as I don't want to admit it or
using it as excuse, I think it's it's very much
a thing. These at bats during spring training are important.
Speaker 2: Having these, you.
Speaker 3: Know, low stress andronments to explore some timing things and
feel a different direction and play with your approach at
the plate. You know, I felt competitive when I came back,
but I think there's there's the being able to compete
side of things, and then there's trusting your body and
proven that you have the reps and you've built up volume.
So I think, you know, looking back objectively, maybe I
was caught in between. I felt like I was in
a spot to help the team win, but maybe not
just quite as you know, competitive as I wanted to be,
right like I it was. It was an embarrassing first half.
I'm not sitting here trying to like justify it or
make excuses or anything like that, but it is also
part of the game. By far, the start the slowest
start I've had to a year, But you know, to
be honest, I'm proud of myself for still putting up
some some OKA numbers and the slow came back around.
The average climbed a little bit late, and and I've
seen a lot of guys start with a really slow
first half like that and you know, give up and
pull the shoot. And I wanted to finish strong and
I did that. I proved to myself that I could
bounce back even with a really tough start. So you know, overall,
I'm proud of of you know how it out finished.
Speaker 5: Do you feel like you learn something about either either
both physically and mentally with those struggles that you went to?
Speaker 2: What do you learn about yourself?
Speaker 3: I think there's always time, you know. I think it's
okay to have some stretches that are slow, that the
baseball season is so long. You have a really good month,
like it's like, no matter what you do, you're going
to have a really great month, and you're gonna have
a really bad month, right, and then those those handful
in between, it's like are you on the two eighty
side of things or are you on the two twenty
side of things? So I think just being really you know, realistic,
I think giving myself some grace. I'm hard on myself naturally.
I take this thing really seriously. So I I think
look at myself in the mirror and saying it it's okay,
Like you're you're working as hard as you can, You're
preparing the right way. It's the game's tough.
Speaker 4: Yeah. Was that something that you do that more in season?
Or more? Maybe more as you look back.
Speaker 3: I think I was forced to in season, Yeah, because
I felt great about how I was preparing, and I
felt ready to compete. I felt prepared to play and
help the team. It just it wasn't showing up on
the field as consistent as I wanted it to.
Speaker 2: So you ask.
Speaker 3: Yourself, like, Okay, what can I do different? Like, I'm
not going to sit here and feel bad for myself?
So how do I get out of it? How do
I make it better? What should I be doing differently?
And when I prepare the right way and I trained
the right way and I feel like I'm living right,
there's there's not much else to do but whether the storm,
trust the work, trust yourself, know that you know, hey,
I got another three hundred at bats on the table.
I can do a lot of damage in that amount
of time.
Speaker 1: You came into camps that I want to play one
hundred and fifty games. That's what you'd normally have done
for most of your career. You've won the Gold Gloves,
there's you get an outstanding resume, but you know, look,
Twitter streets may not be accurate, but the reality is
names get brought up. Yours was brought up a little
bit here and there. Do you take that with a
grain of salt? Do you go, all right, I gotta
change things a little bit.
Speaker 4: Do you go?
Speaker 1: You know what unless my agent here's something. Alright, I
talked to Dana. I'm not gonna worry about any of
that outside noise. I'm in that in the ladder there,
I'm a less I applaud you for that, because he
and I are we have terrible self esteem issues. Or
congratulations for that.
Speaker 3: Now I've done my fair share of armchair GM and
your share. But sure, yeah, honestly, it just it it
gets exhausting for me. It's it's there's so many scenarios,
there's so many possible outcomes, and none of it is
in my control. Like, yeah, if I would have come
out last year and hit three hundred and forty, like
probably wouldn't be talked about getting traded, right, So that
side of things isn't my control. But the business side
of game is of the game is very real. So
for me, I actually I deleted all social media off
my phone for a while, like jealous. Yeah, not avoiding things,
but it's it's just a a smoother day to day
if if I'm not aware of all that stuff, if
I trust Dana, the line of communication between me and
Joe and Me and Dana is is pretty solid. I
think if something had some traction, you know, i'd expect
that somebody would reach out. And I understand it's not personal,
it is what it is. But never never heard anything serious.
So I just kept on with my business.
Speaker 1: Your offseason is in South Carolina. That's not the epicenter
of media in the world. So can you can can
you really decompress from everything? Finning about what looking at
your but just what is it like for the news cycle?
I mean, do you watch the World Series?
Speaker 4: You're not?
Speaker 1: I don't know if you're running to a Columbia Sports
Barn eight or nine playoff baseball games around you know
what I mean?
Speaker 2: It's you're heart on sec territory there. Yeah, it's very
much a Gamecock football season when I get home in
the fall, for sure.
Speaker 3: But I love high stake sports, you know. Obviously the
tide of baseball is there. I enjoy watching the postseason.
I think it's something that we've grown to appreciate. I
got a taste of the World Series in twenty three.
It was a big part of why I came to Houston.
I think it's it's fun, it's It's why the Olympics
are fun. I don't know the rules of the half
of these events and sports, but I'm into it. I'm like,
I'm hanging on every moment. It's you know, when you're
playing with something on the line. It's just fun to watch.
And I think as a professional athlete, I just I
really respect something about that.
Speaker 4: All Right, So you've lost the weight.
Speaker 2: Two stolen bases last year, eleven career high.
Speaker 4: What are we thinking for twenty twenty six?
Speaker 3: I'd like to sniff double digits again. But I think
what's important about last year is Paradis had zero and
I had two. So I just got to remember that
as long as I steals than he can't, he can't
talk crap.
Speaker 2: So who is the slowest player on the team? Yea,
not counting catchers because they get a free pass. That's
crazy catchers, man, it might be Paradis.
Speaker 3: I'd like to think I'm faster than I look, but
maybe we need a race.
Speaker 5: You know, well, we can probably look fine. The feet
per second, Yeah, it's the max. At least we had
a big mattress guy. He'll find it, don't worry. Yeah,
but no, this's just keep you trotting. Yeah, hit it
over the fence and then you can try like Ron
Rold Doubles.
Speaker 2: We love too.
Speaker 1: We had zero issues with that. Yeah, Jose's before let
you run. Jose looks like he's gonna be back at
second base. Uh, he's not gonna say it, So we're
gonna interpret it as you know, he did what was best,
what he thought was best with the team. But I
think naturally you know this too. Guys want to be
in their natural possession of positions. What will be like
to have consistency within that infield, at least for twenty
twenty five.
Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it's important that consistency.
Speaker 3: I think just as a player, I've tinkered with learning
a new position.
Speaker 2: I played a little bit of left field in the
miners coming up.
Speaker 3: And I think it's like one of two things that
either really frees the guy up and they think like, well,
there's no pressure because I'm not supposed to play this
position and it can really help. I think the other
camp is like, oh no, I'm learning a new position.
I don't want to be the reason why, you know,
we lose a game where I give up runs for
my pitcher or something like that. So you know, I've
seen I've seen both things. I think Jose did a
great great job of flowing into a new position in
the big leagues. Like the guy has done something at
an elite level for so long and then you ask
him to do something new. His mentality never changed, his
energy never changed. He was embracing left field for us,
and he helped us win a lot of games. That's
that's another huge bat to have in the lineup. And
if he's willing to do something like that, that's you know,
as far as like a team captain and a leader,
that's I mean, that's everything you're asking for.
Speaker 4: Anything else, my man, I think I'm pretty good.
Speaker 1: I mean, well, we're rooting for a lot of I know,
I know it's a little awkward with all the talk
here and there.
Speaker 2: I just you guys, get you were so close.
Speaker 1: Do you think about one game or do you think
it's such a macro sport in which you play you
can't go to one game? Go man, if we would
have just turned that double player, or if I would
have just got that key hit, or we would have
scored that last run on the night, and do you
do you think about that kind of because it was
such a close, uh separation between you and Detroit.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I think it's easy. You could probably pick out
some spots.
Speaker 3: To be honest, I think when I look around the
clubhouse at the team we had last year, I feel
like it shouldn't have come down to one game. We
should have been a handful of games out in front
of the division, right like we we had plenty of talent,
plenty of opportunities.
Speaker 2: To win the division last year.
Speaker 3: Not taking any credit away from Seattle and these other teams,
they did, they did a great job, right, They did
what they.
Speaker 4: Needed to do. Though.
Speaker 2: Yeah it's I mean it's good.
Speaker 3: You know you should be. You won the division like good? Yeah,
you know, it's it's we had a target on our backs.
We have a target on our backs where we're we
have a reputation. I want other teams to come in
and try to try to knock us off the pedestal.
But you know, to answer your question, no, I don't
think it's fair to anybody or ourselves to try to
pick one spot. The season's long for a reason. You
got nine guys on the field for a reason. It's
it's very much a team sport and we're playing a
long game.
Speaker 1: Lastly, playing in West Sacramento. Is that like playing in
Triple A, like PCL, Like I can swim with one
on hand and hit the ball four and fifty feet.
Speaker 2: That place looks like that. He and I could hit
a home run in that ballpark.
Speaker 4: I love it.
Speaker 2: Yeah, it's awesome. I wish we played twice as many
games there. No, it's it's uh, I mean it's it's.
Speaker 3: A hitter friendly park for sure. I don't know what
it is other than that, like it's good wind.
Speaker 2: I don't know. If I don't know, like know where
the altitude is. If you're really grown, you should switch
on the other side of the plate. Unc. I'm trying
to make them count.
Speaker 4: I got to.
Speaker 2: I love it.
Speaker 1: Chris to thank you very much for the time. We
wish you know about the very best graduations on the baby.
Enjoy that beat, Juice you ever.
Speaker 2: Had a beat?
Speaker 4: Juice ROSSI get you going? And Nitrak Coxide where get
me going.
Speaker 2: We'll be on vessel dilation. We'll not be doing it
in the show much longer.
Speaker 1: Chris your walker here to start the final hour of
the Bad Times Live program. We're gonna be with you
till two o'clock to a here on Sports Talk seven Idy.
Speaker 2: Thanks Quess, Thanks