Jordan Walker has a chance to do impossible with Cardinals: Prove Oli Marmol right

The St. Louis Cardinals made a tough decision to send outfielder Jordan Walker down to Triple-A Memphis in late-April after he struggled to start the 2024 season. At 22 years old, Walker is still young enough that he could have a lot to gain from added experience and consistent at-bats in the Cardinals system, especially if he's not performing well at the big-league level.

At the time, manager Oli Marmol reflected that viewpoint, saying he had a productive conversation with Walker and the pair were on the same page.

“There was a lot of discussion around it and thinking about what’s best for Jordan’s development; going down to a lower-stake environment and working on the things that he’s been working on the last several weeks made sense,” Marmol said. “I had a good conversation with him this morning, and he felt good about going down there, getting in the work and getting back to producing.

Can Jordan Walker prove the Cardinals and Oli Marmol right?

Much of the development St. Louis needed to see was more productive at-bats and increased power, something Walker had been lacking both in spring training and with the Cardinals. Over the last few weeks, Walker has started to look like his old self, so much so that he should be in the conversation for a call-up shortly.

That was Walker's first home run since the 2023 season, as he didn't hit any in April with the Cardinals and had yet to make much of an impact in the power department in Memphis. The increased exit velocities off Walker's bat is also a tremendous sign that he's seeing the ball better of late.

When Marmol discussed sending Walker down in the first place, he wanted to see more productive and longer at-bats from the top prospect.

“It’s just about what he’s swinging at, compared to how he’s getting pitched and what the league is trying to do to him,” Marmol said. “He has to be able to combat that. [Getting demoted] is not something you want and not something anybody wants for him, but the situation does call for it.

Over the last week, Walker has looked much better, increasing his slash line to .266/.314/.385 with a .699 OPS. While those numbers aren't great for someone of Walker's status, they were far worse just a few weeks ago. With St. Louis in need of outfield depth due to injuries to Lars Nootbaar and Alec Burleson, Walker could help the team as soon as needed.