{"id":622436,"date":"2026-03-13T23:12:21","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:12:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/622436\/"},"modified":"2026-03-13T23:12:21","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T23:12:21","slug":"2026-has-become-a-boom-or-bust-season-for-cardinals-outfielder-jordan-walker","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/622436\/","title":{"rendered":"2026 Has Become a \u2018Boom or Bust\u2019 Season for Cardinals Outfielder Jordan Walker"},"content":{"rendered":"

Just a few short years ago, Cardinal Nation was buzzing about the team\u2019s top prospect, a tall, young power-hitter named Jordan Walker<\/a>. In fact, many in Major League Baseball were touting him as potentially St. Louis\u2019 best homegrown talent since Albert Pujols<\/a> \u2013 good company to be in.<\/p>\n

However, his MLB<\/a> career has proven to be one of miscalculations and misfires, as Walker still hasn\u2019t proven that he can hit at the big league level. After originally skipping Triple-A to jump to The Show in 2023, he\u2019s made multiple trips<\/a> back down to the minors to work on his swing. Heading into 2026, Walker has posted a .240 batting average, with 27 home runs and 117 RBI, in three fractured seasons with the Redbirds.<\/p>\n

\"JordanSep 28, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) reacts after striking out against the Chicago Cubs during the ninth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

Walker entered Spring Training this year just like he has the last two. Looking to improve his numbers after spending an offseason reworking his stance and stroke. Unfortunately for him and the St. Louis Cardinals<\/a>, nothing has worked yet. He\u2019s batting 5-for-23 for a .217 average with zero extra-base hits, strikes out more than he makes contact, and has a high ground ball rate. That\u2019s not a great sign for a guy who should be entering some of his prime years in the game. Instead, he\u2019s been stuck in neutral and slowly sliding backwards.<\/p>\n

2026 Could Be When Walker Is Sent Walking<\/p>\n

The young player\u2019s fall from grace has been almost baffling. He\u2019s certainly got the physical traits to be a threat in the lineup: 6\u20196\u2033, weighing about 260 pounds. But he\u2019s beginning to fit the old athletic stereotype. He looks like Tarzan\u2026 but plays like Jane.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why this will be a boom-or-bust year for the right fielder. The Redbirds have been patiently waiting for the potential prime time player to finally become at least close to the weapon they originally envisioned. If not, they may inevitably decide it\u2019s in the best interest of the club and Walker to cut ties and move on.<\/p>\n

Walker<\/a> is under contract for this season, having signed a one-year deal. Still in his pre-arbitration phase, he remains under team control. So they could be willing to pull the trigger on a trade if Walker doesn\u2019t end up firing on all cylinders.<\/p>\n

The Cardinals Can Only Hope for the Best<\/p>\n

Still just 23 years old (until May), it\u2019s hard to just give up on a prospect like Walker. At any moment, the Cards know he could flip the switch and finally light it up in the Major Leagues. And the last thing they want is to see that happen with him in another uniform. Still, the rebuilding Redbirds may push the young veteran out. Due to the incredible star power and depth in the franchise\u2019s farm system.<\/p>\n

So, in essence, Walker can\u2019t just have a good season in 2026. He needs to really rack up impressive numbers if he wants to prove he is who everyone thought he was. A .275 average, 20 home runs, and 80-90 RBI should all be considered not just realistic goals for the upcoming campaign, but necessary ones, as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a ton of talent there,\u201d Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said<\/a> this Spring when discussing Walker\u2019s early struggles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis was the first offseason I\u2019ve felt like Walker was able to communicate with the level of maturity where it was, \u2018I don\u2019t feel good doing this. Is there a different way of getting to the same endgame?\u2019 And truly communicating with our hitting staff to get on the other side of this. There\u2019s a ton of talent there. I\u2019m nowhere close to giving up on this kid. He is going to figure it out, and I am committed to that. But we do feel good.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe knows what\u2019s at stake, and man, he\u2019s working really hard at it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Just a few short years ago, Cardinal Nation was buzzing about the team\u2019s top prospect, a tall, young…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622437,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2403],"tags":[7268,5,160,4679,4,5943,673,67,4311,4310],"class_list":["post-622436","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-st-louis-cardinals","tag-albert-pujols","tag-baseball","tag-cardinals","tag-jordan-walker","tag-mlb","tag-oliver-marmol","tag-st-louis","tag-st-louis-cardinals","tag-stlouis","tag-stlouiscardinals"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116224403753373484","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622436","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622436"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622436\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622437"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622436"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622436"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622436"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}