The Cardinals chosen Jordan Walker with the twenty first total decide within the 2020 draft. Since then, he’s been charging arduous in direction of the majors, transferring up the minor league ladder and prospect lists.
In 2021, he made his skilled debut, splitting his time between Class-A and Excessive-A. In 82 video games between these two ranges, he hit 14 residence runs and stole 14 bases, resulting in a wonderful .317/.388/.548 batting line and a 151 wRC+. He moved as much as Double-A for 2022 and stored it rolling, hitting 19 residence runs and stealing 22 bases in 119 video games. His .306/.388/.510 batting line led to a 128 wRC+, indicating he was 28% higher than common. He then went to the Arizona Fall League and hit .286/.367/.558 over 21 video games there.
Now Walker is taken into account among the best prospects within the league. Baseball America and MLB Pipeline every have him at #4, Keith Law of The Athletic at #5, FanGraphs at #8 and Kiley McDaniel of ESPN at #14. Since Walker has little left to show at Double-A, he’ll probably be in Triple-A to begin 2023, doubtlessly leaping to the majors at any level.
Walker has primarily been a 3rd baseman in his profession up to now, as that was the one place he performed in 2021. Nonetheless, an Nolan Arenado-shaped impediment is stopping him from seeing a lot time on the scorching nook within the massive leagues, so the membership has began giving Walker some outfield reps. Walker made 68 begins at third in Double-A final yr but in addition 30 within the outfield (24 of these in proper). Within the fall league, all 21 of his begins had been on the grass, with twelve in proper subject. Prospect evaluators have advised he’s adjusting nicely to the transfer, along with his robust arm and athleticism probably to assist him function an above-average defender within the outfield.
So long as Arenado is wholesome, Walker can be seeking to crack the Cardinals as an outfielder. As of proper now, the membership’s probably starters on the market can be Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar, with Juan Yepez, Alec Burleson and Moisés Gómez additionally on the 40-man roster.
O’Neill, 28 in June, is coming off a irritating season however was super the yr earlier than. In 2021, he hit 34 residence runs and stole 15 bases, producing a .286/.352/.560 batting line and a 144 wRC+. His outfield protection was graded nicely by all three of Defensive Runs Saved, Final Zone Score and Outs Above Common, with all that main to five.6 wins above substitute per the calculations of FanGraphs. That positioned him thirteenth amongst all place gamers within the majors, simply forward of men like Aaron Judge and Jose Altuve. Sadly, he made a number of journeys to the injured checklist final yr, as a result of a shoulder impingement and hamstring pressure. He solely bought into 96 video games and had diminished outcomes when taking part in, hitting .228/.308/.392 for a wRC+ of 101.
It’s a considerably comparable trajectory for the 24-year-old Carlson. He hit 18 residence runs in 2021 and batted .266/.343/.437 for a wRC+ of 113, however slipped to eight homers and a .236/.316/.380 line final yr for a wRC+ of 100. He additionally went to the IL a few occasions, although he nonetheless performed 128 video games on the yr. Nonetheless, he bought robust grades for his work in middle subject, with 6 DRS, 3 OAA and 1.8 UZR final yr in simply 530 innings. He appears to be the favourite to take over up the center with Harrison Bader now a Yankee, although O’Neill and Nootbaar can each additionally play there.
Nootbaar, 25, hasn’t actually had a full season as an enormous leaguer but, as he was optioned to the minors 3 times final yr. Nonetheless, he appeared to take off after his remaining recall in mid-July. From that time on, he walked in a wonderful 16.7% of his journeys to the plate, simply barely trailing his 17.1% strikeout price. He hit 11 residence runs in that stretch and slashed .240/.367/.490 as a part of the second half surge.
Yepez, 25 subsequent week, is extra of a nook infielder who can play one of many outfield corners on occasion. His work on the grass hasn’t been graded nicely and he probably received’t be an on a regular basis choice. Nonetheless, his potent bat can be within the combine for time because the designated hitter, which might nonetheless have an effect on Walker’s path to the bigs. Yepez hit 12 residence runs in a 76-game debut final yr, resulting in a batting line of .253/.296/.447 and a wRC+ of 109. Burleson, 24, is considerably comparable, as his bat is taken into account a stronger a part of his recreation than his protection. He didn’t hit a lot in his 16-game debut final yr however his Triple-A batting line was .331/.372/.532 due to launching 20 homers. Gómez, 24, has but to make his MLB debut however bought himself a spot on the 40-man after a powerful 2022. Splitting his time between Double-A and Triple-A, he hit .294/.371/.624 for a wRC+ of 149.
Out of all of those gamers, the one one to have certified for arbitration to this point is O’Neill. He has between 4 and 5 years of service time, which means he’s not slated to achieve free company till after 2024. The others nonetheless have a few years of reasonably priced management. As soon as Walker is deemed prepared for a transfer to the massive leagues, the outfield might begin to get crowded in St. Louis. He appears to be headed in direction of proper subject as his predominant place, the place he might line up with Carlson in middle and O’Neill in left more often than not. That may bump Nootbaar right into a fourth outfielder/designated hitter function, which he could be overqualified for if his second half outcomes final yr are anyplace near legit. Maybe the Playing cards would take into consideration buying and selling O’Neill subsequent winter, when he has hopefully had a bounceback season in 2023 and can be only one yr faraway from free company. That may release left subject for Nootbaar or one of many different younger guys.
All of that is contingent on everybody being wholesome, in fact, as even a single damage might unclog the scenario in a rush. However there’s numerous expertise right here for the Playing cards, as their participant improvement pipeline appears to churn out high quality massive leaguers at an unbelievable price. Nonetheless, even high prospects don’t all the time discover instant success within the massive leagues. Walker has but to even attain Triple-A, so some extra endurance could be required, although it feels pretty inevitable that the Playing cards will be capable of work from an outfield surplus once more sooner or later, regardless that they only traded Bader eventually yr’s deadline.
