Inside The Cardinals

Cardinals' Former Top Prospect Facing Backlash As Spiral Continues

Jordan Walker hasn't been as advertised since he came up with the Cardinals...
Zach Pressnell|
Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) hits a one run single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images
Sep 19, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) hits a one run single against the Milwaukee Brewers during the fifth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images

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St. Louis Cardinals

The St. Louis Cardinals seemingly came into the season with low expectations after a boring offseason last winter. But the Cardinals got off to a fast start and reeled the fan base back into with high hopes.

Soon after, the Cardinals would fall off completely, opting to sell at the trade deadline in a crushing turn of events. Now, the team is headed for a rebuild that could take years to turn the team around. And they're not getting much help from some of their young stars.

Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller recently listed former top prospect Jordan Walker as the Cardinals' worst player of the season. This is a crushing development for the Cardinals because Walker was supposed to be a key piece of the team's future.

Jordan Walker under fire as his horrendous big league career continues

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walke
Sep 7, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker (18) at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images | Tim Vizer-Imagn Images

"Just like Davis in Pittsburgh, Jordan Walker has been a major draft disappointment for St. Louis," Miller wrote. "The 2020 first-round pick had an OPS+ of 113 for his debut year in 2023, but managed just a 72 last year and is sitting at a 65 this season, which would be last among qualified players if he had enough plate appearances to fit that description."

Walker had high expectations attached to him when he burst into the big leagues, but he's been anything but a star since coming to St. Louis. The slugger was solid in his first season, but fell off completely in 2024 and 2025, with injuries playing a role in this regression.

Still, the former top prospect is only 23 years old and packs a lot of potential for the future of this team. But it's hard to justify giving playing time to a player who's hitting .217 on the year with nearly 350 at-bats. At a certain point, it's not a slump, but it's a bad season.

Walker is going to continue to get at-bats for the big league club until they lose all hope in him. This could be next season or in the distant future, but if he doesn't turn it around, the Cardinals' rebuild could be off to a bad start.

More MLB: 3 Players Cardinals Will Cut Ties With Before Opening Day 2026

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Zach Pressnell
ZACH PRESSNELL

Zach Pressnell has experience covering all major US sports at both the professional and collegiate levels. He’s produced content for FanSided, Blog Red Machine, The Game Haus, Bethany College Athletics and the Bethany College online newspaper, He graduated from Bethany College (WV) with a degree in Communications and Media Arts, specializing in Sports Journalism. Pressnell was also a four-year member of the baseball team where he earned himself All-PAC recognition as a pitcher (and a cool Tommy John surgery scar). Now, Pressnell specializes in NFL and MLB coverage for Sports Illustrated’s “On SI” network among others. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding "St. Louis Cardinals On SI," please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@wtfsports.org

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