Cards top prospect Walker makes Opening Day roster
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Jordan Walker, the 20-year-old, elite-level outfield prospect who grew to become the speak of the Grapefruit League with an early energy surge and invoked reminiscences of a younger Albert Pujols from 22 years earlier, is headed to St. Louis and Major League Baseball.
The 6-foot-5, 220-pound Walker was knowledgeable on Saturday afternoon that he had made the Cardinals’ Opening Day roster and could be added to the group’s 40-man roster. Later Saturday, the membership introduced its anticipated 26-man Opening Day roster, together with Walker, who will probably be a fixture on a Cardinals group that has designs on successful a twelfth World Series crown this season.
“As of right now, Jordan Walker will make our club,” president of baseball operations John Mozeliak mentioned. “We have been at all times very excessive on him coming into camp and he did quite a lot of issues to impress lots of people. He’s clearly a really mature participant and has an amazing understanding of the sport. He opened up quite a lot of eyes right here on this camp, and he’s somebody who benefited from different folks not being right here [due to the World Baseball Classic].
“It created a lot of at-bats and innings for him, and he made the most of it.”
Walker, ranked by MLB Pipeline as MLB’s No. 4 prospect and No. 1 within the Cardinals’ system, will make the soar to the massive leagues with out ever enjoying Triple-A baseball for the group — a feat much like what Pujols did in 2001, when he was simply 21 years outdated and slugged his method onto the roster. Similarly, Walker got here to camp with all eyes on him and excessive expectations, and he nonetheless managed to outperform them.
In 19 Spring Training video games, Walker went 18-for-63 (.286) with 5 doubles, three dwelling runs and 9 RBIs. His OPS was at a sturdy .816 following Saturday afternoon’s 3-2 loss to the Marlins. Walker’s strikeouts (14) soared late in camp, however he did draw his second stroll of the spring on Saturday.
Now, Walker, a first-round choose (twenty first general) from the 2020 MLB Draft, is predicted to be within the beginning lineup on Thursday afternoon when the Cardinals host the Blue Jays at Busch Stadium. Manager Oliver Marmol and Mozeliak have mentioned repeatedly all through Spring Training that if Walker made the roster, it will be as a starter. A 3rd baseman early final season when he starred at Double-A Springfield, Walker made a profitable conversion to the outfield, and he can play both corner-outfield spot. Designated hitter can be a chance for Walker, who smashed dwelling runs of 470, 450 and 430 ft throughout Spring Training.
Earlier this week, Walker mentioned via a large grin that an MLB nod would doubtless ship his feelings hovering. Formerly the Gatorade Player of the Year whereas in highschool in Georgia, Walker rose shortly via the Minor Leagues and now’s about to perform a childhood dream of reaching MLB.
“I can’t predict the future, but the emotions would be through the roof,” Walker advised MLB.com on Friday. “You would be able to tell if I made it. It would be too hard for me to hide those emotions.”
Seven occasions of their historical past, the Cardinals have rostered a participant 20 years outdated or youthful on Opening Day, together with Hall of Famers Steve Carlton (20 years, 11 days) and Rogers Hornsby (19 years, 351 days and 20 years, 349 days). The most up-to-date Cardinal to debut on the MLB degree earlier than turning 21 was Rick Ankiel in 1999. Coonie Blank was the youngest participant to put on a Cardinals uniform, doing so in 1909 when he was simply 16 years and 301 days outdated.
Marmol mentioned on Saturday that Walker enormously impressed the membership together with his maturity, baseball IQ and willingness to study from these round him.
“A positive camp, obviously,” Marmol mentioned. “He confirmed what he is able to doing from an offensive standpoint and defensive [standpoint]. On the bases, he was in a position to showcase each device, an important one being his capability to cope with slightly little bit of adversity.
“We can talk about tools all day, but those don’t play if you can’t handle some pressure. This is not the degree of the pressure that he’ll experience at the big league level, but it’s still an example of the most [pressure] he’s had to [deal with] around the big league club. So, you’re just keeping an eye on that and seeing how he responds, and I feel like he did that well.”
Walker rose above expectations not lengthy after he confirmed up at Spring Training as a non-roster invitee who was promised each alternative to point out off his five-tool arsenal. His first dwelling run, a 430-foot smash, got here in simply his second Grapefruit League sport. That late-February day, Walker additionally confirmed off his dash velocity — uncanny for somebody his dimension — by beating out an infield single and later monitoring down a fly ball on the wall.
Walker had 9 hits — six of which went for additional bases — in his first 18 at-bats, and he was as soon as the Grapefruit League chief in six main offensive classes.
On March 4, Walker confirmed off his huge potential as a slugger by going 4-for-4 with two spectacular dwelling runs, a double off the left-center-field wall and three RBIs. Another pivotal second that confirmed Walker’s readiness for large league baseball got here on March 8, when he made an adjustment on a 95.6-mph fastball from Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and line a single into left discipline that left the bat at 102.7 mph. Earlier within the day, Cole had crushed Walker on the within with a fastball, however the 20-year-old proved to be a fast learner and bought the perfect of the right-hander in his second at-bat.
By March 10, Walker was main the Grapefruit League in batting common (.452), slugging (.839), OPS (1.291), complete bases (26) and hits (14), and he was tied for first in extra-base hits (six).
Walker despatched a scare into Cards camp on March 11 when he made a headfirst slide into second base and mildly strained his proper shoulder. Two earlier headfirst slides resulted in a nasty gash on Walker’s proper palm. Marmol and others inside the group strongly recommended that the younger slugger begin sliding ft first to keep away from potential shoulder and hand accidents, however he could not however slide headfirst final week when he swiped third base towards the Marlins.
Walker, who turned down a baseball scholarship at Duke to play skilled baseball, mentioned a dialog with veteran catcher Willson Contreras this spring, helped him discover ways to cope with the highs and lows that are available in a sport as tough as baseball.
“I was talking about how pitchers are throwing me really tough pitches, and [Contreras] said, ‘That’s baseball. You’re not always going to be able to get the big hit all the time, and you still have to find a way to contribute to winning,”’ Walker recalled. “I actually took that to coronary heart, as a result of he known as me over and advised me that. It was particular to listen to that coming from a veteran like him. I took quite a lot of pleasure in him pulling me apart and telling me that, and now it is one thing I take out to the sphere, too.”
As is commonly the case for younger gamers in baseball, Walker was unable to keep up his torrid begin to Spring Training and cooled off later in camp. After injuring his shoulder in West Palm Beach on March 11, Walker had 4 hits in his subsequent 30 at-bats with 9 strikeouts and simply two extra-base hits.
“We didn’t think he was going to hit .470 with a 1.400 OPS all camp because that’s kind of hard to maintain,” Marmol mentioned. “There have been slight changes [in the quality of Walker’s swings], but not concerning changes. Yes, there have been changes to him leaving the zone for soft stuff and early in counts with some swing and miss, but it’s not in a way where there’s a red flag. The result has not been there over the last [few] games, but no, we’re not concerned.”
