The St. Louis Cardinals are playing surprisingly strong baseball of late, taking two of three from both the Los Angeles Dodgers and the rival Chicago Cubs. But don't get it twisted: As if John Mozeliak's sell job at the trade deadline didn't make it abundantly obvious, this team is now fully focused on the future, and the final eight weeks or so of this season are mostly in an exercise in figuring out which players will and won't be part of that future.
Which is why the team's lineup on Monday against the Colorado Rockies is so confusing. In are older players like Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson. Out is Jordan Walker, the former top prospect who's the team's single-hottest hitter right now.
All-Star 2B Brendan Donovan (left groin tightness) is out of the #STLCards lineup a third straight night. Lars Nootbaar leads off and plays RF, while Thomas Saggese starts at 2B vs. the #Rockies . The red-hot Jordan Walker is out of the lineup tonight. pic.twitter.com/h77zhvW9JD
— John Denton (@JohnDenton555) August 11, 2025
It's been another disappointing season overall for the former first-round pick, but he's showed signs of life of late, slashing .315/.359/.438 in the second half. It's not out of this world, but it's world's better than his previous baseline, making more contact and doing more damage when he does. If this is real, it would be a huge development for the Cardinals moving forward; Walker's physical gifts are obvious, and if he's finally tapping into them, it changes the team's trajectory.
Unfortunately, manager Oli Marmol seems hell-bent on making sure St. Louis can't make that determination until it's too late.
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Cardinals must give Jordan Walker as much playing time as he can handle
It was one thing when the Cardinals were off to a hot start and still trying to contend for a playoff spot in 2025. Walker simply wasn't getting it done at the plate, and Marmol had other options in the outfield and at DH who gave the team a better chance to win on a daily basis.
But the priorities have shifted now that the deadline has come and gone. Walker is the most important player currently on the Cardinals' Major League roster; his upside is that high, and gathering information about whether he can be a big-league hitter is that imperative. If he keeps up his recent production for the rest of the year, then suddenly you have a budding young talent in right with a sky-high ceiling. If he struggles again, then it's probably fair to start making other plans at the position and write him off as an everyday player.
Chaim Bloom can't make that determination, though, if Walker isn't playing regularly. And really, even if the priority is just to win the game in front of you, does he give St. Louis a worse chance at doing so than Nootbaar or Ivan Herrera? He's been one of the team's better hitters of late, and no one on the Rockies pitching staff is worthy of being avoided out of fear. The Cardinals' No. 1 priority down the stretch of this year should be giving Bloom his answer on Walker. If only his manager would get that memo.