Central STL News

Rebounding from an appendicitis surgery that sidelined him for three weeks after the All-Star break, St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker managed to put together his strongest 13-game stretch of the 2025 season. During that period, he hit six doubles and posted an .808 OPS, suggesting a possible turnaround in what has otherwise been a difficult third year.

However, Walker’s improvement was short-lived. He began chasing pitches outside the strike zone again and saw his strikeout numbers climb. In August alone, he struck out 25 times, including a stretch of six games where he recorded 10 strikeouts. This slump led to his removal from the starting lineup on Tuesday when the Cardinals secured a 2-1 win over the Athletics with a two-run home run by Iván Herrera.

The organization is hoping for more consistent performance from Walker, once one of baseball’s top prospects. They are also looking for him to be more open to making adjustments at the plate. According to manager Oliver Marmol, “We have not seen the consistency that we would have hoped for by now,” Marmol said. “Our hope is that changes. He’s still young, and this could flip at any moment. We’ve seen other players where that’s the case -- on this team or another -- where they are an offseason away. But there’s real work to be done and there’s a real level of dedication and consistency that needs to come with that.

“I need to see Jordan have a sense of urgency for the things that need to take place to give him consistent results. That goes with his moves toward the ball, his preparation in the cage and his approach in games.”

Walker’s statistics reflect ongoing challenges at the plate. Through 91 games, he holds a .220 batting average with 11 doubles, five home runs, and 34 RBIs while recording 104 strikeouts against just 21 walks. Despite ranking high in average exit velocity (92.3 mph) and hard-hit rate (49.8 percent), both among MLB leaders, his squared-up rate (18.1 percent) and launch angle sweet spot contact (28.4 percent) remain among baseball's lowest.

Increased chase rate (now at 34.3%), strikeout rate (31.7%), and whiff rate (34.7%) compared to last season further highlight areas needing improvement.

Walker acknowledged how these struggles have affected him but emphasized efforts to stay positive: “You have to [stay positive] because once you're negative about yourself, that's when it all goes down the toilet,” Walker said. “It's obviously hard to stay positive, but I’m doing everything I can to do that and find things that make me comfortable and make me happy. Hanging out with my teammates, watching them hit, it's pretty sick. So, pretty much it’s all those things combined.”

While several Cardinals hitters such as Alec Burleson, Brendan Donovan and Iván Herrera have shown progress under new hitting coach Brant Brown this season, Walker has struggled with consistency in adopting suggested adjustments at bat—a process described as inconsistent by both Marmol and Walker himself.

“It's more approach-wise and plate discipline-wise and that’s why I'm swinging out of the zone so much and getting out so much,” Walker said. “I see [the ball] good sometimes, see it bad sometimes and I'm just in the bad part of this stretch with my new adjustment. Soon, I'll get back to hitting the ball hard, driving it up the middle and staying short.”

Manager Marmol indicated time is running short for significant improvements this season: “Real adjustments have to be made, physically and approach-wise,” he said.“[Brown] is doing a really nice job of providing him ways of doing that.Now ,he has to take hold of that and put it in play.”