MLB WORLD SERIES: DIAMONDBACKS VS RANGERS

October 31, 2023

Christian Walker

Chase Field

Arizona Diamondbacks

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. I know last night was frustrating on some levels, but for you, it felt like maybe that was your best swing in a while. Did it feel like you're that much closer to being where you want to be?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: For sure. It was nice to get on a fastball early. Overall, like I said, it's a funny thing -- obviously the box score hasn't been great, but I've been making good decisions consistently. I've been taking my walks, getting on base.

As the clean-up hitter, I expect more out of myself, for sure. But overall, yeah, I think it's trending up lately. The last game in Texas, I hit three balls over 100. Last night I hit two more balls over a hundred. I can't aim them. I'm up there hitting them as hard as I can doing my best.

But I feel like if I keep making good decisions, trust what I got, I think it will keep trending in that direction.

Q. It seems like both teams have been really on it defensively all series long. What's it like to be such a competitive series in that respect?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: It's fun. It's clean baseball. I think as a team who takes pride in defense, I've seen firsthand how it can stop the bleeding on an inning or change the momentum of an inning.

It's hard to go out and win a Major League Baseball game. You've got to do a lot of things right over three hours. There's a lot of opportunities for success and for things to go the other way, too.

So understanding how difficult it is to generate runs, and these pitchers are really good these days. I think being a part of it and being in the fight every day, it becomes very clear how much value there is in good defense. And it makes it easy to buy into it.

Q. You mentioned what it meant to you last night that the fans reacted the way they did to you. But when you're in that situation, what are the challenges of appreciating that, but also getting back to being focused in the box?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: Yeah, it's a very quick cycle. You're never expecting anything like that. So to hear it walking up, it's great. It's awesome. Everybody loves to feel valued and supported and stuff like that.

So it's cool. It's cool to see. Seems like they appreciate the big picture and not just what's happening right now. Like, the season is filled with ups and downs and high points and low points.

I think just in general the most frustrating thing about this is the timing of it. If I hit a stretch like this in the first half then it's not really a conversation. But the timing of it is frustrating for me.

I think that's what I'm battling most is trying to get it back on track with a sense of urgency without forcing things. This game's hard when you're out there trying to force things into submission. It's very much a let-the-game-come-to-you situation.

So to hear that and feel the support, maybe, takes a little edge off. It's great, I appreciate it very much.

Q. Being a first baseman you probably talk to the opposing players more than anybody else at first. Do you have that same kind of dialogue during the playoffs or World Series or is it a lot more quiet?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: It's more toned down for sure. But we all compete against each other all year. They're wearing different uniforms, but it's very much a brotherhood out there.

We appreciate that we're all kind of the same in terms of big picture and what we're all out there for and our love for the game, our love for each other. We understand the business side. Things change quickly.

That being said, I'm in the fight with my guys, and it doesn't matter who is in the other dugout. We're out for blood every day.

You zoom out, you take 5 or 10 seconds to just appreciate what we're all doing out there and how cool it is. But it's a lot of just congratulations on making it this far. And everybody's excited to be here. And we're aware of how fortunate of an opportunity this is.

Q. You guys have obviously had a lot of bounce-back's from difficult losses like last night's in this postseason. What does the morning after a loss like that like in the clubhouse for you guys that makes it possible?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: To be honest, a loss is a loss. I don't think losses have more weight or more value than other losses, at least at this point in the year. It's either a W or an L. That's where it is. They don't hold more weight.

Some aren't more heartbreaking. Like the one that ends the season is probably more heartbreaking than others. Right? But for us, we're still in the fight. We win the game, it's tied back up.

There's no time to dwell. It doesn't contribute. It's very much turn the page. I think before we got out of the clubhouse last night, everybody was trying to be back to neutral. That's the goal.

You draw a line for yourself somewhere. For me it's my postgame shower. That's my threshold. Go into the shower, I can be pissed off and upset. I can process. But walking out of the shower, it's healthy to leave it. You take what you can and learn from it and move on.

So as far as the loss, yeah, it sucks, but also it's time to go out and get a win today.

Q. There had been some concern that heading into the postseason the clock would cause increased pressure in high-intensity situations. Have you felt that way at all in the playoffs or World Series? And do you notice the game moving along more crisply?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: You're referring to the pitch clock in between?

Q. Yes.

CHRISTIAN WALKER: No, I think the sample size of the season has been long enough that we're all pretty comfortable. To be honest, I feel like the clock with nobody on base is quick anyway. With people on base, you've got that 20 seconds or whatever it is. It feels like plenty of time.

But no, it feels normal. That's one thing I've appreciated about this postseason is how much the baseball still feels like good, competitive baseball.

Obviously the attention and the scale is much bigger and the media situations are different. But for me, from my perspective, when that first pitch happens, for the next three hours, it's felt normal to me. But I think the clock has been a nonissue from my perspective.

Q. I know it came down late last night that Andrew Heaney was the starter. Can I get your perspective on him?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: Big tall guy, interesting angle. Good heater at the top, carry or extension. I think personally having the opportunity to prepare for a starter instead of potentially a new guy every inning out of a bullpen, it's a little bit different dynamic.

Some guys prefer the freedom of facing a new guy every at-bat and trusting what they got. Some guys prefer the game-plan approach and like one or two at-bats to make an adjustment here or there.

But, I mean, we faced him earlier this year. It's going to be a battle. Each of these games is interesting. I feel like during the season you can feel trends a little bit more. You can feel when something's going to happen in these games.

It's like everybody is rising to the occasion. Everybody is looking to put the team on their back and do something really special. So you have to prepare the same way with everybody. You go out, it's about making good decisions. It's about leaving stuff on the edges, making pitchers feel like they've got to come over the heart of the plate, taking your walks, passing the baton.

So, yeah, I think be curious to see how long it lasts and what their plan is on how many times they're trying to get them through the lineup or whatever. But we'll be prepared.

Q. I'm curious, I know you mentioned the other day how Paul Goldschmidt's defensive prowess was part of you wanting to be so good on that end of the field. I'm curious, can you expand on his impact and maybe how you avoided putting too much pressure on yourself knowing that he was sort of your predecessor as a first baseman here?

CHRISTIAN WALKER: For sure. It's always tough trying to be the guy after the guy. And nothing but love for Goldy and obviously what he's done in his career, but specifically here because that was my experience with him. I didn't spend a ton of time up in the big leagues those years, '17 and '18, up and down in '18, September in '17. And also, like, a lot of what I learned from Goldy I feel like I was watching from a distance.

We would take ground balls together at first and we would have conversations and I would ask him questions, but you don't want to get in a guy's way. Try to let them do their business. I was coming off the bench. I wasn't playing every day. Trying to have a feel as far as how to navigate that but also trying to be a sponge.

Being around Paul, it became obvious to me how intentional everything was. Some guys go out and you can just tell they're raw, it's the talent they've always had; they're going out and they're playing. And that can be really helpful and successful and very freeing.

But watching Paul, it seemed a little bit more calculated. Like his base skill set is incredible. He's extremely talented. He's a big, strong guy. He's a really good athlete. But it was deeper than that. It was like he would ask different questions.

You would ask him a question and you could tell he would really think about it before he gave you an answer. He wasn't in it just to give some sort of cliché.

I guess what I'm getting at is his attention to detail. Sweat the small stuff. I think that's what matters over the course of a long season, a long career. It's the fine details.

I don't want to just make the plays that I'm supposed to make. I want to cut down an extra out. I want to nail a runner on the back end of, like, trying to take a free 90 and take a free out. Yeah, maybe we give up a run but we got out of the inning a little bit quicker. Now it's the seventh and we still have a lead.

So sweat the small stuff, for sure, is, I think, what I learned the most.