Cardinals' Jordan Walker Reveals Preparation for Make-or-Break Season

Three years ago, the excitement for Jordan Walker at St. Louis Cardinals camp was palpable. Now, he's at a make-or-break moment in his career.

Following a rookie season that was flawed but promising, Walker's last two years have been a disaster. In 162 games, he's put up a .595 OPS, negative-2.6 bWAR, and 176 strikeouts. Still just 23, he knows he has limited opportunities left to prove he belongs in the Cardinals' lineup.

On Sunday, Walker described how he's hoping some significant changes he made during the offseason would translate to long-awaited success in the batter's box.

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What Walker hoped to accomplish with transformative offseason work

Sep 23, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker (18) celebrates his double against the San Francisco Giants during the seventh inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Walker trained at Cressey Sports Performance this winter, and reported that he focused on adding explosiveness and flexibility, while dropping seven pounds in body weight. Perhaps even more importantly, he made swing adjustments designed to simplify his overall move.

"My hands aren't flying up as much in the cage, and we're trying to take all that work out into the field," Walker said, per Brian Murphy of MLB.com. "I'm attacking the ball the right way instead of crashing forward and falling forward and having to cheat towards the heater."

Part of the adjustment, Walker says, was designed to keep his eyes more level through the stride and allow him to track the ball for longer before making his swing decision.

"The reason I feel like I wasn't (swinging more often at in-zone pitches) is I was afraid to chase," Walker said. "I was crashing, as I said, and not seeing the ball as well. Giving myself a better chance to hit, I'll be able to track it better. I’ll feel like I have more time. Now if it's in the zone, I'll be more confident and attack."

Walker has had offseasons where he reported to make major changes before, so nothing is guaranteed to work this time around, either. But one has to applaud the constant commitment to improving, even if it means a total overhaul of his swing.

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