Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Christian Walker hit two no-doubter home runs in his first two plate appearances Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels.
The two blasts drove in four runs in an 11-1 victory to take the series over L.A.
Walker’s second homer was a 464-foot shot to the concourse, the furthest hit by a D-backs player and longest at Chase Field this season.
Only four home runs in Major League Baseball had been hit further in 2024, per Statcast: 473 feet by Mike Trout, 473 feet by Aaron Judge, 468 feet by Bobby Witt Jr. and 467 feet by Judge.
Anyone order seconds? 🍽️ pic.twitter.com/zGoI1rWrV8
— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) June 14, 2024
Shohei Ohtani and Judge also have 464-footers this year, so that’s pretty big-ticket company for Walker.
Both home runs were crushed off Angels starter Griffin Canning, the first on a fastball in and the second on a hanging slider. Walker’s first homer was a three-run shot to give the D-backs an early 3-0 lead.
Walker also homered in the eighth inning Wednesday, so three of four at-bats in this stretch resulted in big flies.
Christian Walker has never met a baseball he didn't want to hit 400 feet. pic.twitter.com/UyphQ68E7v
— MLB (@MLB) June 14, 2024
He passed Chris Young for fourth place on the D-backs’ all-time home run list Wednesday. Walker got up to 135 with the pair on Thursday, and Steve Finley is next at 153.
Walker hit 21 homers after June 13 last year, so he could feasibly move up the list again this season.
Thursday was Walker’s 11th career multi-home run game and second of the season. The other came after the bees delay against the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he hit a walk-off homer.
Walker has yet to hit three homers in a single game. The last D-backs player to do so was Josh Rojas in 2022.
