WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – New Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker was scratched from the lineup for a spring training game Wednesday because of soreness in his left oblique.

Walker missed more than a month last season with Arizona because of a strained left oblique muscle. He joined the Astros on a $60 million, three-year contract during the offseason.

In his first four spring training games for Houston, Walker was 4 for 8 with three doubles. He also had two walks.

Adding a first baseman over the offseason was a priority for the Astros after struggling Jose Abreu was released less than halfway through a $58.5 million, three-year contract.

Walker, who turns 34 on March 28, hit .251 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs in 130 games for the Diamondbacks last season. He won his third consecutive Gold Glove at first base.

In 832 big league games, Walker has hit .250 with 147 homers. All but 13 of those games came with Arizona over the past eight seasons, after his MLB debut with Baltimore in 2014 and 2015.

Walker had two stints on the injured list because of right oblique issues in 2021. He played 160 games in 2022 and 157 in 2023, hitting 69 homers and driving in 197 runs combined over those two seasons.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. — The Hall of Fame made some small adjustments to its veterans committee system to limit people with relatively little support from repeatedly remaining on future ballots, a decision that could make it harder to gain entry to Cooperstown for steroids-tainted stars such as Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens.

Any candidate on the eight-person ballot who receives fewer than five votes from the 16-member panel will not be eligible for that committee’s ballot during the next three-year cycle, the hall said Wednesday. A candidate who is dropped, later reappears on a ballot and again receives fewer than five votes would be barred from future ballot appearances.

Bonds, Clemens, Rafael Palmeiro and Albert Belle each received fewer than four votes in December 2022, when Fred McGriff was a unanimous pick. Bonds and Clemens were on a hall ballot for the first time since their 10th and final appearances on the Baseball Writers’ Association of America ballot. The rules change could limit reappraisals of their candidacies.

In addition, the historical overview committee appointed by the BBWAA that selects the ballot candidates must also be approved by the hall’s board of directors. The hall said the decisions were made by its board during a Feb. 26 meeting in Orlando, Florida.

In 2022, the hall restructured its veterans committees for the third time in 12 years, setting up panels to consider the contemporary era from 1980 on, as well as the classic era. The contemporary baseball era holds separate ballots for players and another for managers, executives and umpires.

Each committee meets every three years: contemporary players from 1980 on will be considered this December; managers, executives and umpires from 1980 on in December 2026; and pre-1980 candidates in December 2027.

Dave Parker and Dick Allen were elected last December and manager Jim Leyland in December 2023.

Two-time National League MVP Bryce Harper is “more than open” to returning to the outfield — where he played his first nine MLB seasons — if the Philadelphia Phillies can significantly upgrade at first base.

“I talked to them this offseason about that,” Harper told The Athletic in an interview published Wednesday. “Just in case a guy was available [at first] that we needed to have, needed to get. I’d be more than open to it, if we had a guy like that who was going to change our lineup or change the demeanor of our team. They like me at first base. But I’d go out there to have a guy who was going to play first base and hit 35 or 40 homers.

“When [Pete Alonso] was on the block still, I kind of sat there and was like, ‘Hey, why not?’ When we talked about it, I kind of just reiterated to [the Phillies] and Scott [Boras] that I’m willing to move out there if it’s going to help us. I love playing first base. It’s been great. But if it’s going to help us win, I’d go back out there.”

Alonso re-signed with the New York Mets, but he could again be available after this season if he opts out of his two-year deal. Slugging first baseman Vladimir Guerrero Jr. also is scheduled to become a free agent after failing to reach an extension with the Toronto Blue Jays this offseason.

Harper, who played catcher and first base prior to entering the majors, moved to the outfield — mostly playing right field — after he was selected by the Washington Nationals with the first pick in the 2010 draft. He hasn’t played the outfield since undergoing Tommy John surgery after the 2022 season — his fourth with the Phillies.

He told The Athletic that he doesn’t have a preference what position he plays, but it “would be awesome … unbelievable” if he won his first-ever Gold Glove at first base.

The 32-year-old Harper, who is entering his 14th major league season, has 336 career home runs and is aware that 500 is within reach.

“You’ve got to stay healthy. You’ve got to stay strong. You’ve got to be on winning teams, too, I feel like,” Harper told The Athletic. “Obviously, you can do it without that. But I feel like it just pushes you that much more to be great, being in an organization with a fan base that pushes you every day.

“Individual stats are great, but that one thing, man … that World Series. That’s what you want to do. All those things will take care of themselves if you’re winning and if you’re staying healthy. I’m not really too worried about it.”