Has Jordan Walker arrived after surprising Derby win?
Yahoo Sports' Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz look at Jordan Walker's volatile journey in baseball after winning the 2026 Home Run Derby in Philadelphia. Check out the full conversation on the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" podcast - and subscribe on Apple Podcasts , Spotify or wherever you listen.
Video Transcript
And I think that that is what is so cool because for the sickos like us, we have been tracking Jordan Walker very closely.
Yeah.
Right?
Yeah.
Like, 2020 was his draft year, which is a very weird draft year, and that was the first year that I was, like, going all in on the draft, and could you blame me?
There was nothing else going on, right?
No.
Everything gets shut down.
And in April I'm like, "I'm bored.
I'm gonna learn about the 2020 draft."
Some people were doing sourdough, Jordan was doing the draft.
And one of the first players I remember in that process where I was like, "Whoa, how about this kid?"
This gigantic kid.
Child.
Kid.
He was one of the youngest high schoolers in that draft.
You know what I saw today?
Not a kid.
Not a kid.
Man.
But he c- pretty much was that size- Yep even in high school, which is what made him so tantalizing.
A high school, a high schooler out of, out of Georgia, and he was a first round pick.
But the question was, all right, what, what, what's he, what's he gonna be?
How long is this gonna take for a guy with long levers?
He- right?
Listen- Yes 6'6", 250.
Maybe he was 6'4", 230 as a high school senior.
He big.
Can he hit?
Can he hit?
He will hit the ball hard.
Can he hit the ball in the air?
And that was a big part of his early career.
But before we kind of do more of that recap, the reason why, as you mentioned, this performance is so great because it does introduce that story to everybody.
Yes.
In a way that, there are so many stories like this throughout the league, guys that pop and then go down, and then pop, but not a lot of them get to shine.
This is an opportunity for anybody to come through and have their career story be told and that And he's- Yes a great one.
And especially for a 24-year-old who still has so much in front- Right in front of him.
Now people are gonna be invested in Jordan Walker.
And that is why the context here is important.
He comes up in '23.
Yep.
Is pretty good.
Pretty good.
Bad in '24, gets demoted, injured for a lot of '25.
And I would say at the beginning of this season, Jordan, in my mind, and maybe this is unfair, he was closer to KBO- than he was Home Run Derby heroism.
Yeah.
Like, it was easier for me to envision Jordan Walker going 40 piece for the, you know- Oh Lotte Giants- than it was for me to envision him doing this out here.
Yeah.
That- Like, and that is part of what makes that so remarkable to me- Yeah is just how unforeseen this all was for Jordan Walker.
So then, you know, he comes out this year, and the story of the season is amazing.
He's just, the potential is, like, comes to fruition.
100%.
And makes the All-Star team.
Mm-hmm.
In the Derby.
And then when it all seemed down and out.
Mm-hmm.
When we had almost, when we had counted out Jordan Walker.
Yeah.
When he was not in our plans, when he was not in our brains.
Mm-hmm.
He said, "Ha ha ha."
Watch this.
Watch, watch this.
Six consecutive home runs, home runs on six consecutive swings to claw back a massive deficit from Kyle Schwarber in the final.
Each swing, what was so remarkable about that, what was so, like, captivating about it, so he needs six swings, right?
Six homers to, to do it, and so this place is going nuts.
I mean, it's going berserk 'cause it's like, well, Schwarber's gonna win.
Right.
He hits one and they're like- Uh-oh "Ah, pfft."
"Nah, we're not- Whatever we're not worried.
Not worried."
Two.
"Not worried."
Three, tense.
And with each home run, it built and it built and you could see Schwarber on the side, surrounded by the 85 other Phillies that are here, starting to realize that one Mr. Jordan Walker was not going to lose.
No, sir.
Not today.
And when the last ball went out, this place was silent.
