St. Louis Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker is getting closer to making history, thanks in part to his performance on Apr. 8 against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Jordan Walker was not only a top prospect in the St. Louis Cardinals minor league system, but he was ranked by MLB.com as the second-best prospect in the entire league. With service time manipulation being a thing of the past, the Cardinals decided that after a strong spring, they rewarded Walker with a spot on their Opening Day roster. Since then, Walker has been on a streak in which he has had a hit in every game he’s played.
On Saturday, Walker got that much closer to making history.
Facing off against the rival Milwaukee Brewers, Walker hit a line drive, a two-run home run in the top of the third inning to extend the Cardinals’ lead to 6-0. This was Walker’s second career home run, and it officially secured his eighth-consecutive game with a hit.
The team said, via Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Dispatch, only one player has been as young and started off their career with an eight-game winning streak, and that was Ted Williams back in 1939.
thttps://twitter.com/dgoold/status/1644852367320313856?s=20
Cardinals rookie Jordan Walker close to making history with hitting streak
Walker is one more game away from tying Williams, but he would be three short of tying the record for longest hitting streak to start their career, age 20 or younger, since 1900. That is held by Eddie Murphy back in 1912, who had a 12-game hitting streak to begin his career. That statistic comes courtesy of the Elias Sports Bureau, via MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
longest hitting streak to start career, age 20 or younger, since 1900:
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 9, 2023
1912 Eddie Murphy: 12
1939 Ted Williams: 9
2023 Jordan Walker: 8 ** active streak
1939 Fred Hutchinson: 8
h/t @EliasSports https://t.co/CBNXneChkU
I got it. Walker and Williams are younger. That's the difference. Williams is the only one with a hitting streak to start his career who was as young as Walker.
— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) April 9, 2023
Yes, it's a matter of days.
In the game, Walker went 2-for-3 at the plate, knocked in two runs and scored one run.
This season, Walker has now recorded a .355 batting average, a .394 on-base percentage, a .619 slugging percentage, two home runs, seven RBI and 11 hits.
For those wanting to see if Walker makes it nine games in a row with a hit, the Cardinals and Brewers will be playing on Sunday, Apr. 9 at 2:10 p.m. ET.