It's a big spring training for Jordan Walker, who hopes to solidify his spot as a key member of the St. Louis Cardinals young core moving forward. Walker is a former top prospect who has struggled at the big-league level. He has shown flashes, don't get me wrong, but Walker's approach at the plate is messy at best.
Walker had an outstanding rookie season, hitting .276 with 16 home runs and 51 RBI in 117 games. He regressed quite a bit since then, as he had a -0.9 WAR and .619 OPS in 2024. The 22-year-old was sent down to Memphis due to those struggles and rebounded quite well, but there is a significant gap between Triple-A and MLB pitching Walker hasn't been able to figure out.
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Jordan Walker had taken steps forward in Cardinals spring training
New Cards hitting coach Brant Brown and assistant Jon Jay has worked a lot with Walker this spring, specifically in regards to his lower body at the dish. Walker has liked the adjustments Brown made to his swing, and sung his praises in Jupiter, Florida.
"For me specifically, the key points he wants me to focus on is staying in my legs and don't really worry about what my hands are doing," said Walker. "My hands are going to follow my body, so we went through all the intricate things like body control, where am I putting my force through the ball, not pulling off, staying kind of in there."
For the first time in awhile, it feels like the Cardinals have instructors who can get the most out of young players. Unfortunately for Walker, his development came to a quick halt on Tuesday afternoon in a spring training game, where he injured his knee. The Cardinals are still awaiting an MRI, but the freak incident itself raises some questions.
Jordan Walker's freak injury has Cardinals fans concerned
Per John Denton, Walker stepped on a sprinkler head while tracking a fly ball. It was that awkward landing which caused his injury, rather than a display of athleticism gone wrong.
Here is footage of the second-inning play where #STLCards RF Jordan Walker is believed to have experienced pain in his left knee while tracking a fly ball. Walker was removed from the game because of that pain and will undergo further evaluation, per the club. pic.twitter.com/2IqhwRvVig
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) March 4, 2025
As the replay shows, Walker was merely walking around in the outfield when he suffered the knee injury. In many ways that is what made it so frightening.
2025 is not a season Cardinals fans expect to compete for a World Series, but they would like the team to report to spring next season with some direction. Right now, they are lacking in that department. A new president of baseball operations in Chaim Bloom should help matters, as well as a decisive conclusion at manager.
Any sort of long-term injury to Walker could only be deemed a setback to that dream, though.