Could Walker finally be heating up? This two-hit effort came one day after a three-hit game. Before that, he had just five hits over his previous nine games with only three other multi-hit games all season. His home run was a welcome sight too, barely clearing the tall left field fence and into the fabled Crawford Boxes at Daikin Park. He practically didn’t have a spring training since he was nursing an oblique injury, so it wouldn’t be crazy for it to have taken nearly a month to get him timing down.

Walker showed some signs of life over the weekend when he blasted his second round-tripper of the season. However, he’s gotten off to an abysmal start at the plate in his Astros debut, hitting .156 (12-for-77) with four extra-base hits and four RBI through 21 games. We’re anticipating him turning things around based on his lengthy track record, but it’s hard to overlook his ongoing struggles. It’ll be rookie Zach Dezenzo at the cold corner on Monday night in his place.

Walker tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run shot off Michael King. It’s just the second homer of the season for Walker, and he’s still hitting just .164/.265/.274 in his first season with the Astros. Based on everything he’s done in the past, it’s hard to imagine a hot run isn’t coming soon.

Walker has been bumped from the cleanup spot for the first time this season after a brutal 19-game start where he’s batted .159 (11-for-69) with one homer and two RBI. He’s struck out a staggering 29 percent of the time in 79 plate appearances during that span. It’s too small of a sample size to draw any firm conclusions, but the Astros are going to make an effort to help him turn things around.