Where this season puts Jordan Walker in the Cardinals’ plans going forward will be a conversation for the offseason, but there is still time in this season for him to inform the club’s view. Both the young outfielder and his coaches have clear ideas about what they want to see in the closing weeks.
“I need to see Jordan have a sense of urgency for the things that need to take place in order to give him consistent results,” manager Oli Marmol said Tuesday when asked by the Post-Dispatch what he hoped to see in the near term from Walker. “That goes with his move toward the ball, his preparation in the cage but also his approach in a game.
“You have to start to see progress,” the manager continued. “It think it’s important as you are evaluating the next month, you need to start to see progress and consistency.”
Walker, the Cardinals’ first-round draft pick in 2020, surged out of the All-Star break with some changes to his swing and approach that brought results — for a stretch. In his first 18 games out of the break, Walker hit .318 with an .821 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and more hits (21) than strikeouts (17).
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In the 18 games since, however, he’s hit .145 with a .407 OPS. He’s struck out 24 times in his past 62 at-bats and had a four-strikeout game Sunday in Cincinnati, where his struggles to pick up pitches and eager swings at sliders out of the zone were exploited by Reds starter Brady Singer.
It’s been continuing cycle for the 23-year-old as he and coaches work to adjust his swing, go through some difficulties, see positive stretches and then take a step back when he struggles.
“I don’t think it’s ever comfortable changing what you’re used to, (and) that’s kind of how it is right now,” Walker said. “I do want to see results obviously. Getting back to where I was right after the All-Star break — I think I really liked my approach there.”
A conversation that took to the airwaves Tuesday during Marmol’s weekly appearance on KMOX/104.1 FM’s “The Gashouse Gang” continued with reporters in his office.
Marmol invited hitting coach Brant Brown to join him on the show. Brown discussed how he’s urging hitters to use more of the field, how he’s asking them to get uncomfortable against fastballs in the batting cage and to even change their lingo. He suggested adopting “be all over” or “ambush” instead of “sell out” when talking about how to key on a pitcher’s specific pitch. Some of the conversation focused on Walker, his swing changes and his recurring struggles.
“On his daily structure level is at some point in time he’s going to have to devote more focus on preparation,” Brown said on KMOX. “We’ve had long conversations on this. … When Jordan Walker is ready to be good, we all know the potential — I don’t even think he knows the ceiling.”
Brown described preparation and swing adjustments as “zigging and zagging” vs. opposing pitchers.
“He’s still in zig mode,” Brown said. “Zag made is a stone’s throw away.”
“It’s a combination of the move he’s making and the consistency with that move in order to be consistent and what you’re swinging at,” the manager explained. “Because if you’re making the right move, your swing breaks down when it’s not in the zone. He has to be more consistent with both of those things in order to have success. Real adjustments have to be made physically and approach-wise for him to have success.”
An example of a change Walker has made at the plate is setting up farther away from it. One goal of that is to help him avoid the low-and-outside breaking balls that pitchers lure him into chasing.
Another is to clear the area over the plate for his size and swing, for his comfort and so he can use his “superpower” — getting a pitch at the front of the plate and drilling it.
But it’s also a new angle for him on pitches.
Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker points back to the dugout to acknowledge the cheers of teammates after he hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning of a game against the Pirates on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2025, at Busch Stadium.
David Carson, Post-Dispatch
“What I’m thinking is that I’m just in the bad part of the stretch with my new adjustments at the plate,” Walker said. “Soon, I’ll get back to hitting the ball hard driving it up the middle.”
Post-Dispatch sports columnist Lynn Worthy asked Walker during batting practice Tuesday what he sees as possible for him as a hitter and what stride he must take to get there.
“Honestly, a huge step for me would be taking my walks,” Walker said. “I think once I take my walks with the ability that I know that I have, I’ll become an elite hitter. I think just walking and slugging. I can’t slug if I don’t walk and get good pitches to hit. If I’m swinging at everything outside the zone or bottom of the zone — their pitches — then it’s going to be really hard to slug. Once I take those, take my walks, and get better pitches, starting slugging at all times.”
From his rookie season when he hit 16 home runs and had a surge in the second half to a .276 average and a .787 OPS, Walker’s production has been inconsistent or adrift. His .313 slugging percentage overall is by far the lowest of his career, and through 304 at-bats, he’s hit five home runs — the same amount he had in 164 at-bats last season. His strikeout rate spiked in the past week and is a career-high 31.7%.
At 6-foot-6, 250 pounds, Walker is one of few players that size to reach the majors, and few have thrived there. The most successful is Aaron Judge. At the same age Walker is now, Judge had yet to take a swing in the majors and was working through the minors after a college career. Walker’s next at-bat will be his 889th in the majors.
And that at-bat will begin a September stretch where he can show these improvements — in the cage, in preparation, and in the batter’s box — because his youth and his upside is going to get him the opportunities.
“He is still young, and this could flip at any moment,” Marmol said. “We’ve seen other players where that’s the case, whether it’s on this team or other teams where it’s an offseason-away-type thing. There is real work to be done, and there’s a real level of dedication and consistency that needs to come with that.”
Injury roundup
Alec Burleson felt a release of discomfort and rigidity in his right wrist Tuesday that allowed him to advance in his recovery and see the possibility of batting practice in the near future. Burleson said the sore wrist “felt drastically different” and that it could be the anti-inflammatory injection helping.
“Get the angry wrist out of there,” he said.
If he is able to take swings and batting practice in the coming days, the Cardinals are open to Burleson avoiding a rehab assignment and returning to the lineup next week.
Brendan Donovan (sprained toe, sore groin) took batting practice on the field again Tuesday, and on Wednesday, the team will target a start date for his rehab assignment.
St. Louis Cardinals designated hitter Ivan Herrera speaks with the media on Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, after a series-opening loss to the Athletics at Busch Stadium. (Video by Ethan Erickson, Post-Dispatch)
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