![]() Walker arrived just as the team began a five-game losing streak, collecting just two hits in the first four games. The video was from May 29 the Cardinals recalled Walker four just days later after placing Nootbaar on the injured list for the second time this season, this time due to a lower back contusion (he missed 10 days in early April after jamming his left thumb while sliding). Recently, Walker has placed a focus on trying to make contact with pitches when he’s ‘more out front’ on his swing, which he said leads to more loft.” Louis Post-Dispatch’s Daniel Guerrero summarized, “Some of includes avoiding overloading and over-rotating, which created some issues with seeing the ball. It’s not as though Walker wasn’t adjusting his mechanics, however. So I just have to trust myself and trust how my swing has been in the past three years within the organization. I feel like as I go through the season, it’s going to get more in the air just like I did last year. If it’s on the ground, it’s on the ground. “There’s no point if I’m trying to hit the ball in the air if I’m not hitting the ball at all. I think it’s just being more relaxed and not thinking about it at the plate. “Right now, I’m not too worried about getting the ball in the air more and I’m starting to drive the ball a lot better now. I forced myself to do things that I usually don’t do, “I was told to start hitting the ball in the air and that kind of got to me a little bit, about trying to force the ball in the air a little bit too much. Louis in late May when he told a TV reporter, “There’s no point if I try to hit the ball in the air if I’m not hitting the ball at all.”Īs with so much in life, the quote makes more sense and is less inflammatory in context: While toiling at Memphis, Walker nonetheless caused a stir in St. ![]() ![]() Louis, where Mozeliak and Marmol suddenly decided that Willson Contreras, the team’s top offseason signing, was somehow no longer fit to be the regular catcher but would become an outfielder, then quickly realized that plan was every bit as stupid as it sounded in terms of the team’s alternatives at catcher and the existing crowd in the outfield. Meanwhile, he missed quite a clown show in St. ![]() Most notably, he heated up after a slow start, batting. So Walker went down to Memphis, where he didn’t exactly put up impressive numbers overall (.239/.348/.398, 90 wRC+), though he did hit the ball in the air more often and strike out less. More understandable was the team’s desire for Walker to work on his approach and hit the ball in the air more often to take advantage of his 70-grade raw power. “uys just aren’t getting into rhythm, expected playing time,” he told reporters, adding that he and manager Oli Marmol envisioned less playing time for the rookie in the near future and figured it made little sense for him to idle on the bench. Still, it felt odd when, on April 26, the Cardinals optioned him to Memphis, with club president John Mozeliak deciding that the outfield of the 9–15 team was suddenly too crowded. ![]() Meanwhile, his poor jumps and bad throwing decisions served to remind that he was still a work in progress on defense as well a converted third baseman, he had just 51 previous professional games in the outfield, including in last year’s Arizona Fall League. He went just 5-for-26 over his next eight games, four of which featured multiple strikeouts. Once the hitting streak ended, however, Walker didn’t get a very long leash as the league adjusted. Yet Walker turned heads by collecting hits in each of his first 12 games, batting. The presence of fellow rookie Alec Burleson only added to the crunch. The move guaranteed that Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, and Lars Nootbaar would all get less playing time than expected - not the worst thing in the world given the subpar performances of the first two last year. Recall that Walker, who ranked 12th on our 2023 Top 100 Prospects list, hit his way onto the roster in spring training, bypassing Triple-A Memphis, and opened the season as the regular right fielder, a situation that was somewhat surprising given the team’s apparent outfield depth. ![]()
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