The young St. Louis Cardinals outfielder has seemingly taken his game to another level.
The St. Louis Cardinals are in the middle of an intriguing reset period as an organization and the timeline of it will be fully determined by how quickly the young guys on the roster can take a step forward.
When the Cardinals traded Brendan Donovan, Nolan Arenado, Sonny Gray and Willson Contreras away, this is the point that they were making extremely clear. Chaim Bloom, in his first offseason as the team's president of baseball operations, completely ripped the Band-Aid off. The Cardinals are letting the kids play and it's been exciting to kick off the 2026 season. Now, there will, of course, be rough patches with such a young roster. But there have already been positive signs. JJ Wetherholt, Alec Burleson, Victor Scott II and Nolan Gorman have all looked great to begin the season. Wetherholt entered the season with big expectations and has looked the part as the team's No. 1 prospect. Burleson has been a beast and looks even better than he did last year when he won a Silver Slugger Award. Scott looks like he has taken a step forward offensively and has been every bit as good defensively as he was last year. Gorman, one of the guys on the club entering the season with question marks, has looked improved as a hitter as well. All of these guys have been good and if they can keep it up, it changes the perception of the lineup.Mar 29, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals right fielder Jordan Walker hits a two run home run against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fourth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images | Jeff Curry-Imagn Images. Like Wetherholt, Walker is 23 years old, but he is in his fourth big league season. The story of Walker's career so far has been massive potential, but inconsistency in the majors. It's been just four games, but Walker is looking like the guy who broke into the majors in 2023 and the club has had high hopes for..385/.500/.769 with one homer, three RBIs, three walks, two doubles and a league-leading six runs scored in four games. Again, this is a small sample size, but there are positive takeaways. Three walks in four games is massive progress. Last year, he had 29 walks in 111 games played. He's clearly seeing the strike zone better and it's leading to hard contact and waiting for his pitch.are insane so far as well. His bat speed is in the 99th percentile, his walk rate is in the 88th percentile, his strikeout rate is in the 90th percentile, his hard-hit rate is in the 98th percentile, and his average exit rate is in the 97th percentile. Also, his outs above average defensively are in the 87th percentile, among many other metrics. The sample size is small, but he has done well in comparison to his peers across the league. That's why his performance is so exciting. This reset period is contingent on these young guys taking a step forward. Once guys like Walker, Wetherholt, Scott, Masyn Winn, Burleson, Gorman, and others are ready, then the club can start to invest in other areas to take this team back to contention. If this is the version of Walker the Cardinals are going to be getting in 2026, it's only going to speed up the process.PATRICK MCAVOY Patrick McAvoy's experiences include local and national sports coverage at the New England Sports Network with a focus on baseball and basketball. Outside of journalism, Patrick received an MBA at Brandeis University. For all business/marketing inquiries regarding St. Louis Cardinals On SI, please reach out to Scott Neville: scott@moreviewsmedia.com
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