With spring training games rolling, all eyes are on the St. Louis Cardinals who are looking to make a deep playoff run. With the additions of Wilson Contreras and the departures of Corey Dickerson and Jose Quintana AND the retirement of Albert Pujols and Yadier Molina; a lot of eyes are on Oli Marmol this spring. By far the biggest wildcard this year is Cardinals #1 prospect and Baseballs #4 prospect: Jordan Walker.
So, what’s the hype on Jordan Walker? Walker, was the St. Louis Cardinals 2020 1st round pick and is a 20 year old third baseman/ outfielder who spent the last year in Double A Springfield. In 119 games Walker hit .306 with 19 home runs and 68 RBI’s and 58 walks. Walker, who stands six five and weighs in at 225 pounds, tore the ball up in the minors and in the Arizona fall league clocking in the four highest exit velo’s and even showed off the arm strength throwing a 99.5 mph laser from right field.
But how does Walker break camp with the major league team? First let’s look at who’s guaranteed a spot in the outfield which is Tyler O’Neil, Lars Nootbaar, Dylan Carlson, Juan Yepez (who will primarily DH) and Brendan Donovan who can play the corners if needed. The Cards don’t have a traditional 4th outfielder but that’s not what Walker would be. If Walker has an amazing spring, which countless people including myself believe will happen, and does better then someone like a Dylan Carlson, Walker could break camp as a starter. The front office knows better then to bring there #1 prospect up and have him sit on the bench when he could be in Memphis and perfecting his swing and getting more outfield reps.
By all means, I believe Walker can be the spark plug this team will need this year. He could very well even go on such a run that he is the NL Rookie of the Year, but only expect Walker to break camp with the major league squad if he’s putting up rookie of the year numbers, otherwise expect the call up closer to the dog days of summer.
When St. Louis sees the major league debut of Jordan Walker expect him to blossom into the future of St. Louis Cardinals baseball.
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