Jordan Walker is back in the big leagues. The Cardinals on Monday announced that they’ve recalled the former top prospect from Triple-A Memphis and placed Matt Carpenter on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain. Carpenter’s IL placement is retroactive to Aug. 9.
Walker made his big league debut as a 20-year-old in 2023 and did so to considerable fanfare. The 2020 first-rounder entered last season ranked as a consensus top-five prospect in the entire sport, due largely to the potency of his bat. He pounded eight extra-base hits (three homers, five doubles) in 67 spring plate appearances and landed on the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster as their starting right fielder.
The learning curve for Walker proved fairly steep as he attempted to skip Triple-A entirely. He began his career on a 12-game hitting streak but soon fell into a slump at the plate. Given that he was already struggling to adapt to a shift to the outfield — his natural position, third base, is of course spoken for in St. Louis — the Cards optioned him near the end of April. He was sent down with a roughly average .274/.321/.397 batting line at the time.
Walker returned in June and looked like a new hitter. From June 2 through season’s end, he effectively maintained the same batting average but did so with a notable bump in OBP and considerably more power. Over his final 387 plate appearances, he hit .277/.346/.455 with 14 homers, 16 doubles, a pair of triples, an improved 8.8% walk rate and a 21.7% strikeout rate that sat lower than league average. For a player with minimal Triple-A experience who turned 21 in May, it was a highly encouraging finish to his rookie campaign.
Entering the current season, Walker had a lineup spot locked up. However, his ’24 campaign started out with a protracted swoon at the plate that saw him hit just .155/.239/.259 in 67 plate appearances before being optioned back to Memphis. He’s been there since, due primarily to the fact that his struggles have persisted since being sent back down. Through his first 252 plate appearances back in Memphis, Walker managed only a .234/.300/.357 batting line. His 8.3% walk rate and 19.1% strikeout rate were both solid, if unspectacular marks, but he’s had the same grounder-heavy approach that he’s shown in the major leagues. For a player with above-average but not elite speed — especially one whose calling card is 70- or 80-grade raw power — hitting nearly half your batted balls on the ground is a sub-optimal outcome.
Over the past few weeks, the now-22-year-old Walker has begun to turn things around in Memphis. He’s belted five homers and tallied a dozen extra-base hits over his past 16 games. It’s only a sample of 67 plate appearances, but Walker has sizzled with a .343/.400/.687 slash in that time — far and away his best stretch of the season at any level.
The Cardinals will be hoping to see more of that level of output from Walker as they push to get back into Wild Card position. Though St. Louis has spent a good portion of the summer in possession of a Wild Card spot in the National League, they’ve dropped a game and a half behind the Braves, who currently hold the third spot. The Mets are a game ahead of the Cardinals and are also vying for the final spot.
St. Louis has struggled against left-handed pitching throughout the season, currently ranking as one of the worst lineups in baseball versus southpaws. Their combined .233/.296/.359 slash against lefties translates to an 85 wRC+ (suggesting they’re 15% worse than league-average at the plate). Walker will give them another right-handed bat to help attack opposing lefties, but it’s worth pointing out that he’s struggled tremendously against lefties both in the majors last year and in Triple-A this season. Walker batted .231/.294/.389 against southpaws in ’23 and has a combined .234/.304/.378 slash against them between Memphis and St. Louis this season.
Good article
It’s time to finally have a serious discussion about Cardinals legend Matt Wieters’ very legitimate Hall of Fame career.
Discuss.
No responses yet. Made even worse by the fact that I made the cut of being the first comment.
I’m out of here.
12981,
“I’m out of here.”
Promise?
hall of interesting careers, sure. no kid catcher could possibly live up to those expectations, right? enter ruschtmann. logan o’hoppe could realistically have a very wieters-like floor.
Cardinals legend Matt wieters so original
Possibly one of the greatest trolls of our time
Right handed hitter that can’t hit lefties? Get this young man an eye exam and glasses.
Ah, the old lower back strain, eh? That’s always a convenient excuse.
At Carpenter’s age, everything hurts all the time.
I’m older and I concur!
I wanted to see Gorman get consistent AAA reps for a bit, but whatever, at least walker is up
747 OPS at Memphis. Last year 746 OPS at Memphis. And that ignores his defense which is most definitely not good.
Numerous guys at Memphis are outplaying him. I am a Cardinals fan and I want to root for Walker but I also believe players need to earn their jobs and he hasn’t earned his. He didn’t last year and he hasn’t this year either.
The dude clearly has talent and is probably at that point where he has nothing left to learn at the AAA level. He’s got to figure the rest out against the best. Tough to do if you can’t get regular playing time, however.
Kripes it sounds like you are talking about Luken Baker not the 22 year old Jordan Walker.
Joel, no one is outplaying Walker the last 2 weeks. He’s earned this, plus the Cards are horrible vs. LHP…he can’t be any worse.
If you watched or followed Memphis, you’d know he’s hot right now.
How’s Tyler like the New England I.L.? Any different than the Midwest I.L?
He’s had a good 2 weeks. He was terrible for most of the year but he’s had a good 2 weeks.
How many guys have a better OPS at Memphis right now?
It’s most of the team……
I know you still think you look like Luken Baker, but that doesn’t help Baker out. He can’t play RF. It’s an easy fix for you. Baker would more of a vs. Burly or Goldy comp. Not a Walker comp.
Walker is replacing Matt Carpenter. Carpenter doesn’t play right field he’s a DH just like Baker is. And unlike Walker he’s been good at AAA the entire year not just the last 2 weeks. And he was good at AAA last year too.
Carp retired years ago he led the team to 2 championships. Matt Carpenter is washed up.
@SlapHittingisforBetas
Floor vs ceiling. I prefer playing a guy with a higher ceiling who isn’t 38 years old, but that’s just me
Is he Joel? That makes a lot of sense now. Once Joel stopped being every other comment he took over. Calling up Walker is simple, he was sent down to figure things out, they think he has, now its time to test him out. Using season statistics of someone in the dumps is pointless because he was sent down struggling. He’s batting .343 with 5 HR in the past 15 games.
walker is all hype like nootbaar both ar badly over rated
Our Cardinals are pretty much out of it. Walker needs Major League at-bats. He’s “earned” those bats as much as Noot or Gorman or several others. I’d rather take a shot with Walker than continue with these guys who aren’t hitting.
The Cardinals are a freaking game and a half out of a wildcard spot they are absolutely not out of it.
Gorman had a ridiculous OPS at AAA when he got the call.
There are so many teams in the wild card mix! The Cardinals are as much “out of it” as they are “in it.”
With Gorman, I’m talking about right now. He has a .686 OPS and strikes out 37.3% of the time. Walker’s relatively hot bat should take precedence over Gorman.
Dude we aren’t throwing in the towel here and playing for next year. And if we were then get rid of Lynn and Mikolas and Gibson and give some opportunities to Liberatore, Graceffo and McGreevy.
Cool. Never said any of that.
You are saying we are out of it when we are not out of it. A game and a half out of the playoffs is absolutely not out of it. This isn’t a rebuilding team playing for the future it’s an old team trying to make one more run for a championship.
We need to treat people fairly and equally. That’s not what’s going on here. Luken Baker is the guy who deserves a promotion not Walker.
eatonculo
Cool. Never said any of that.
=========================
It sounded like you said: “Our Cardinals are pretty much out of it.”
He didn’t say we are throwing in the towel. He said we are pretty much out of it. Both statements are true. The Cardinals are trying to win, they just suck too bad.
Like tonight. This is a series we HAVE to win. The schedule gets much harder from here.
We roll out our ace Sonny Gray, and he gets shelled. The Cardinals are done.
I am not saying I love our chances of making the playoffs. But we aren’t playing for next year. Not yet.
It’s time to start putting veterans on waivers. Play the kids. Fire Oli. Prepare the apology to the season ticket holders.
It’s over.
I agree 100%. I’m not familiar with the Cards’ situation. If they need a RH OF, then it is what it is.
But this is not an improvement over anything in the past. He still has a K/W of > 2.0, and without the requisite power to overcome it. He’s not in Adell territory yet, but I wouldn’t expect much from him this year.
They shouldn’t have screwed with his swing. He reached the big leagues for a reason and they’ve been adjusting him ever since. Would benefit from a fresh start elsewhere IMO
Living here at Autozone Park, Walker has simply been crushing it lately. Will that translate to the bigs? Who knows but no sense in having him mash in Memphis when the Cardinals need bats
Luken Baker and Matt Koperniak have been crushing the ball all year. I assume you see that living there.
Team has really picked it up the last couple of weeks. Been a fun time. Home run siren goes off regularly ha
Excited for Walker, he’s the killed the ball since the ASB. Let’s hope translates to the Majors.
it wont
Jordan Walker, 22 years old, has all the potential and top notch power, but so far, he hasn’t produced. The Cardinals are hoping his hot hand at the plate in the minors will produce in MLB. He’s done it before, and if the organization believes in him, why shouldn’t we. Good luck, Jordan! Stick to your fundamentals and show all your potential in MLB!
it may help…..who knows? It can’t really hurt, the guy he replaced wasn’t going to help….Leader of Men Matt Carpenter LOL
Salsa anyone?
Luken Baker should be replacing Carpenter. He’s earned the job.
His speed on the bases is underestimated. He is a big guy who takes awhile to get going, but his first to home speed is excellent!
His 12 game hitting streak to no hitting streak is top notch
His speed in the outfield is outstanding.
In just 5 seconds, he can run half a mile in a crazy pretzel pattern, while trying to track down a fly ball.
If his recent hot streak during 67 plate appearances is a small sample, what were
the 67 plate appearances at the beginning of the season that got him sent down?
How about you look at his career numbers. And don’t stop at offense look at defense too.
people will lose their poop over 1 or 2 AB’s tonight. The first time he grounds out there will be major earthquakes across the heartland
The New Madrid Fault Line is right there. Walker may trigger it either with a simple groundout or by whacking into/tackling Cardinals’ center fielders (again).
Luken Baker plays 1B, the Cards have 1B covered from the RHB side.
Walker gives them another RHB piece to go with Pham in the OF. Baker can’t play the OF.
I’m “making it make sense”….jump on board, Joel!!!
I’m with ya about baker, but koperniak plays the outfield and has really good minor league numbers, and extremely good this year. Would have liked to see koperniak over walker over baker
Exactly bighiggy. Players should be promoted based upon performance not prospect ranking and fan hype.
I’m a huge Koperniak fan…it’s overdue for his promotion.
I think the Org went with the path of least resistance on this one…..40 man v.s non-40 man
Koperniak has definitely surprised me this year, he may have gotten it if he was right handed. Only reason it was walker is because he can play corner OF & Is a righty, I agree with the path of least resistance point
What makes you think that Walker can play the OF competently?
Ask Dylan Carlson about that….
Still very young with time to improve. Might be an impact slugger in the mlb. Might be an offense only player that regresses to a limited value platoon bat as the competition improves and the heat is turned up. We’ll see how MoTie and the Cardinal way molds and develops him from here.
Might be … Might be …
Might be a train wrack in the OF again. Centerfielders, beware!
Luken Baker wouldn’t be tonight’s liineup if he were recalled. Goldy would be. And Contreras would be your DH.
The “Smart” play is Walker…..that gets you an extra RHB in the lineup. It helps to have a RF play RF.
Baker would play Bench, which doesn’t hit in any lineup
You are making it up as you go. Stop.
Which parts are we not understanding?
Part 1) vs. LHP ~ The Cards face a LHP tonight. Baker plays 1B or DH. Contreras is DH tonight in order to get Pages in the Lineup….both are RHB.
Part 2) Bakers plays Bench tonight if he’s recalled b/c there’s not room for him at 1B or DH.
It’s like the answer is right there for you, Joel. 🙂 I’ve missed you
Why exactly does Pages need to be in the lineup???? Contreras can catch and Baker could be the DH.
Make it make sense fella.
Muted for using the word fella that hasn’t been spoken since the 50’s
He made it make sense. You’re just not able to comprehend facts and common knowledge.
It’s funny that so many people are muting you, yet you keep spouting off. SMGDH
He”ll have to be a DH. He’s is atrocious in the field and couldn’t track a beach ball correctly, let alone a baseball.
I think a very serious discussion needs to be had about why the jump from AAA to MLB is becoming even more insurmountable than it used to be. I think it has to be rooted in the starting pitching availability/scarcity sucking all the mediocre arms to the big leagues. But either way, at what point is AAA no longer viable as the highest level on the farm?! How do teams make those clubs useful for preparing talent again?!
It’s been pretty eye opening, kind of surprised there isn’t more of a discussion around this. Along with this, surprised more players aren’t speaking out about how offense is down league wide at both the major league level and AAA. Not surprising because they use the same ball. Wonder what people make of the recent Tommy Pham comment around some players thinking the ball is “softer” this year and whether this was intentionally done to help pitchers, possibly for some of the reasons you mentioned
It’s not insurmountable. He was just promoted too quickly.
His 66/15 K/W earned him a promotion from A+ to AA. No one should get promoted with a K/W > 2.0.
His 116 Ks in 461 AA ABs was also too high, but he still got promoted to AAA.
His 32/16 K/W with only 4 HRs in 113 ABs is very pedestrian. And he still got promoted to the pros. One could argue that he was young at every level, but that just argues to keep down longer.
There is nothing that he’s done with the Cards that couldn’t be predicted based on his minor league numbers. There might not be anything wrong with him that more experience might cure, but having players fix their problems against major league pitching usually doesn’t work.
There are many, many examples of highly touted prospects obliterating AAA and then taking months to adapt to big league pitching…
Cards need a RH hitting OF. Koperniak probably might have been up if he was RH. Bad for Baker but needs to play OF. Blackpink keeps harping about earning it but sometimes you fill needs and Walker right now fills that need
I’m a little surprised that Walker hasn’t played any 1B in the minors. He’s 6’6″, he’d make a huge target for the infielders although he may have trouble with the low throws. Goldschmidt isn’t going to be there forever.
Failing that, I was more surprised that they didn’t use him as a trade piece with a team like the White Sox or Miami. The White Sox could just stick him at DH most of the time now that they have moved on from Eloy Jimenez.
I was and still am hoping for a deal involving Robert and Walker. Walker and Siani for Robert seems reasonable to me.
MLB.com’s flacking for this guy early last season was hilarious. His first 10 game were compared favorably to Ted Williams. I suppose that’s not his fault but it does make people roll their eyes and hope he fails, just for the laughs at the expense of the Best Fans in Baseball ™.
You mean “The Self-Proclaimed Best Fans in Baseball ™”..
Prediction–in 2027, a struggling Jordan Walker will be traded for a middle reliever and he will become an All-Star for his new team.
Who cares!
Koperniak has outperformed Walker and others at every level. He hits for average. Doesn’t strike out much. Is second at Memphis in Home Runs. Greatly improved his hitting against lefties..He gets it done. They keep on relying on the same people who are not getting it done. Why not give him the chance..