Cardinals embarrassment now leaking into minors with top prospect’s awful K

Not much has gone right for the St. Louis Cardinals this season. Wednesday's loss brought the Cardinals' record down to 18-25, which has them tied for last place in the NL Central.

Surprisingly, the biggest issue with this Cardinals team has not been their lackluster rotation, it's been their lineup. Their lineup looked like the only positive on the team entering the season, but it has been a nightmare so far this season, to put it lightly.

The Cardinals have scored the fewest runs of any National League team and are tied with the fewest home runs in all of baseball. Veterans like Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado who have struggled are making the headlines, but their young players who were supposed to produce simply haven't. Jordan Walker is front and center with that.

Walker had an up-and-down rookie year but still ended with a .787 OPS in 117 games last season. He was considered one of the top prospects in baseball entering the year, and lived up to the hype for some of it. This season, however, has been a disaster to the point where he's striking out in embarrassing fashion in the minor leagues.

Jordan Walker's struggles reach new heights with embarrassing strikeout in minors

Facing Atlanta Braves legend David Fletcher, Walker struck out while playing for AAA Memphis. Granted, Fletcher did strike out the side in his inning of work and was throwing knuckleballs, but striking out against a position player who is not putting in maximum effort has to be a new low for Walker.

The 21-year-old entered the season expected to play every day as St. Louis' primary right fielder, but never got it going offensively. He slashed .155/.239/.259 and did not hit a single home run in his 67 plate appearances. Walker continued to struggle to elevate the balls he put into play (50% GB rate), and he remained lackluster at best in the field.

The Cardinals sent him down to the minors hoping he'd get hot and while he is hitting .315 in 14 games for Triple-A Memphis, he has yet to hit a home run.

The Cardinals could certainly use the offensive boost that a player like Walker can provide when right, but he hasn't been, even with his solid batting average. That strikeout only confirms it and is just the latest embarrassing event to take place in what looks like another lost season for the Cardinals.