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Cardinals Slugger Sheds Struggles of Past for Feel-Good Breakout Season
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- Cardinals Slugger Sheds Struggles of Past for Feel-Good Breakout Season
(Michael McLoone-Imagn Images)
Growth, as St. Louis Cardinals' manager Oliver Marmol pointed out repeatedly over the final month of the 2026 season, can be measured in a variety of ways.
One way, of course, is the standings – an area where the Cardinals fell back a win from 2025 (78-84) to 2026 (77-85), one that was somewhat expected with the widespread youth on the roster and the club selling off veteran pitchers JoJo Romero and Dustin May for prospects at the MLB Trade Deadline.
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Instead, the Cardinals tried to evaluate areas of growth in non-traditional ways in a non-traditional season in St. Louis.
Growth was having a defined core group of players – Alec Burleson, Jordan Walker, JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera, Masyn Winn, Michael McGreevy, Kyle Leahy and Riley O'Brien – take major steps in their games and evolve into building blocks.
Growth was seeing Leo Bernal, Joshua Baez, Quinn Mathews, Cooper Hjerpe and Nathan Church live up to the hype that followed them from the Minor Leagues and show signs they can be depended on going forward.
Growth was Andre Pallante and Gordon Graceffo shaking off the struggles of 2025 and showing the fortitude to change the trajectory of their careers.
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"This is a really young group, but there's been a lot of progress with so many of these guys," Marmol said. "You can go up and down the lineup and you see growth from so many of our guys. Then, go to the rotation and what McGreevy, Pallante and Leahy did this season, and the bullpen as well. Our staff has really enjoyed pouring into that group. They are hungry for information and they want to be coaches, so that's made it a lot of fun."
However, as president of baseball operation Chaim Bloom reminds, the Cardinals still have major gulfs between them and MLB's top teams. The National League champion Brewers, after all, finished 26 games ahead of St. Louis and battered the Cards in 11 of 13 head-to-head meetings. Much more growth is needed for the Cards to better navigate the difference the rebuilding and contending.
With growth being the focus, let's look back at the performances by individual players in the 2026 season and how they will figure into the Cards' plans going forward in 2027 and beyond:
Player name:Jordan Walker
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Age:24
How acquired:Selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the 2020 MLB Draft
2026 statistics:158 games, .269/.327/.466/.793, 97 runs, 164 hits, 33 doubles, 29 home runs, 102 RBI, 174 strikeouts, 50 walks, 22 stolen bases in 27 tries.
Key numbers:Walker hit 13 homers with runners in scoring position, easily the most in MLB this season. Also, his 79.3 mph bat speed is the tops in all of baseball. Then, there is this: Walker cut his strikeout rate from 31.8 percent in 2025 to 26.1 percent in 2026.
Looking back to 2026:Walker became one of MLB's best breakout stories of 2026 with him shedding three years of offensive struggles and him becoming a first-time National League All-Star and MLB's Home Run Derby champion. He registered personal highs in almost every statistical category while teaming with Alec Burleson to drive the Cardinals offense all season. He did it, largely by chasing fewer balls, striking out markedly less and lifting balls into the air instead of hitting them into the ground. Walker's pull air rate went from 11.3 percent in 2015 to 15.9 percent in 2026.
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Looking forward to 2027:Maybe the most impressive parts to Walker's season came after he fell into a slump and then worked his way out of it. That, of course, didn't always happen in the past and he must remain a confident and resilient hitter going forward. The Cardinals always thought Walker had the potential to be a star and he finally played like it in 2026. The question now revolves around how much does the team believe in Walker's future? Do they begin negotiations about a long-term deal this offseason? Does Walker's dropoff in August give the club pause in signing the 6-foot-6 slugger to a long-term contract extension?
Denton's analysis:Here is a look at Walker's consistency and bounce-back abilities from month-to-month in 2026: March – one homer, three RBI, .294 batting average; April – eight homers, 20 RBI, .283 batting average; May – six homers, 20 RBI, .296 batting average; June – three homers, 15 RBI, .283 batting average; July – four homers, 21 RBI, .260 batting average; August – five homers, 18 RBI, .305 batting average; September – two homers, seven RBI, .172 batting average. Walker's final month – one where he struck out 35 times and started consistently chasing pitches off the plate – caused quite a stir among Cardinals fans fearing that Walker was regressing to his old habits. However, the 24-year-old slugger showed enough over the season's first sixth months that the Cardinals should seriously consider locking the outfielder up with a long-term contract after a new CBA is ratified. Walker is clearly a member of the franchise's core, and he could be at the start of a superstar career over the next decade.
