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During his April debut, Walker logged a 3/20 BB/K over 78 PA’s.
Since being recalled, Jordan has accumulated 43 PA’s in June with a 4/5 BB/K. Progress.
His June ops+ of 153 is second only to Arenado’s other worldly 245 ops+, of those with at least 10 GS this month.
Walker has definitly picked it up with the stick. Hopefully his OF defense improves.
I’d like to see Baker get regular PAs for a string of games and see what happens. Its not like we’d be risking anything.
I propose that this thread officially morph into a general Jordan Walker discussion thread, encompasing all topics related to him and his performance. It mostly has already.
I was dismayed when he was thrown out trying to steal 3rd Friday night vs the Mets. Dismayed that he was out, not that he tried for it.
He now has 2 SBs and 3 CSs, so the results have so far been bad overall. He is not among the fastest players ever, but he’s a big man with long legs, and moves well for his size. He has 22 SBs last year in AA with 5 CSs. Yadi proved that speed of foot is not the only factor, and Walker is substantially faster than Yadi ever was, so he has enough.
I am all for Walker continuing to make agessiveness on the bases a part of his game. He has some fire in his belly and is trying to do something for a team that badly needs somebody to do something besides talk about how they need to do something.
Haven’t heard much lately from those who feel Walker should be spending 2023 in Triple-A…
Remember how MLB has been drooling over Elly De La Cruz since his debut? Here’s how he compares to Jordan Walker during the month of June.
Jordan Walker – .326/.396/.512, 8.3 BB%, 12.5 K%, 153 wRC+
Elly De La Cruz – .235/.350/.412, 15 BB%, 37.5 K%, 104 wRC+#STLCards #Reds
— Josh Jacobs (@joshjacoMLB) June 16, 2023
We have a few young bats that should ultimately be productive and consistent.
Pitching however – well, there just isn’t any. At all.
Haven’t heard much lately from those who feel Walker should be spending 2023 in Triple-A…
Indeed. The compete collapse of the MLB squad has altered the Walker landscape. That does not nullify the argument that he would have benefitted significantly from a year facing the more advanced opposition, to work on his approach at the plate and his outfield defense. But the ineptitude of the MLB squad, and absense of any corrective action by the FO, means that Walker does not have the chance to benefit from an ordery progression through the upper levels. The MLB team desperatly needs something, and Jordan qualifies as something.
A player beamed up from AA faces a steep hill, and Walker has had his problems, but overal has done an admirable job. Some board participants have Walker as a top of lineup guy in proposed lineups. I scoffed at first blush, but am rethinking that. Walker might be good at the top in the same way Noot is/was. He seems to be emerging as possibly a guy who just has a way of making something happen, and of being in the middle of it whenever something good is happening. At least, as much as a down in the order hitter has a chance to be such.
With Donovan having “fixed” is approach at the plate, he may be better at something than he was, but he is not the up in the order catalyst he was. Ultimatly, Noot and Walker might make a lively combo in the 1-2 slots. I hope that gets a look once Noot is back with the rust shook off. (The question of how Noot will fit back into the lineup with Carlson playing well is another question.)
Haven’t heard much lately from those who feel Walker should be spending 2023 in Triple-A…
I have never questioned that his bat was ready for this level. That drama about his groundball rate was manufactured nonsense. My concern has been, and still is, his defense. But since we are a last place club going nowhere a few miscues in the OF are probably issues we can we deal with. Let him play. He is athletic enough where his defense will probably improve over time. He plays LF like Ozuna except with a stronger arm.
Comparing one rookie’s 1st 40 plate appearances versus another rookie’s 79th through 129th plate appearances tells us…..what? I guess it means something to Jacobs.
Fair point, Euro. Walker’s OPS when he was first sent down was .718, lower than Elly’s. However, over his first 12 games, Walker had slashed .319/.360/.489/.849. His early results would be a more valid comparison.
But putting the Reds player aside, Walker is hitting better this time up.
I don’t know anything about this Jacobs guy, buy I assume he is typical of the sportswriter type. When Gorman had been super hot for several weeks, I read an article by one of the local media, forget who, breathlessly proclaiming that the Cardinals had at last developed the home grown middle of the order power bat they had been dreaming of since Pujols. Really? A few hot weeks, and after he mostly stunk last year, and he’s all that? And now he stinks as bad as anybody ever has. OPS of 32 in June (since sample size is irrelevant when touting, it is irrelevant when reality checking). Who knows what will happen with Gorman or with Walker. As to Jacobs, his business is generating clicks and attracting attention.
I’m thinking we’re not going to see much improvement in Walker’s defensive play the rest of the way THIS season. It’s hard to make significant change on something like that with the rigors of everyday play. That could’ve been more of a focus in AAA, but now I think they should stick with Walker in StL the rest of the way and let him and the team take the lumps in the OF.
The next real checkpoint will probably be the start of next season. He is obviously motivated and an offseason to focus on defense could make a real difference if he really has the potential to play OF. It’ll be bad sign if there isn’t much improvement by then, but I think we’ll see some.
He’s put together in a way that could be described as rangy, but he doesn’t seem to be excessively lumbering. Maybe some dance lessons over the winter to improve his footwork?
With his father in the crowd, Jordan Walker homers and extends his hitting streak to 11 games.
There is a short list of #stlcards who have multiple 10+ game hitting streaks in the same season at the age of 21 or younger. They are:
Rogers Hornsby
Albert Pujols
Jordan Walker— Derrick Goold (@dgoold) June 18, 2023
The difference I see in Walker now vs then is he can better lay off those sliders that end up out of the zone. He lays off and they have to come into the zone more, so he sees more hittable pitches.
We’ve also been playing some stinky teams with stinky pitching, which helps.As to defense, he can improve in the areas of anticipating, getting a better jump and better read, taking better routes, turning the right way, and all things related to closing on the ball faster. His often timid approach to closing in on a ball sometimes reminds me of Chris Duncan, but Jordan has way more potential to improve out there. His arm is strong and he’s made some good throws but also some stinkers, so consistency there. With his size and long legs and arms we don’t really want him diving or crashing into things. There is no reason he shouldn’t improve in several areas. I agree that the middle of an MLB season is not the ideal time to do it.
Players can and do improve even after reaching MLB.
Jordan Walker laid out to make the @Chevrolet Play of the Week! pic.twitter.com/AFBLuXRzac
— MLB (@MLB) July 17, 2023
Mostly to get under Brian’s skin I got on YouTube and searched “Kyle Schwarber diving catch”. There are quite a few, but the best one was a looping liner off the bat of Nootbaar last summer.
First base is probably Walker’s eventual position, similar to Albert. Albert started his career as a third baseman, played left field for a year, then moved to first. I think we will see Walker as our first baseman in 2025.
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