The Right fielder’s runway season did not go as planned this year, as the St. Louis Cardinals top prospect is now on the injury list.
He has been placed on a 10-day IL due to inflammation in his left wrist. The Cardinals have also optioned Gordon Graceffo to Memphis after another bad outing yesterday, prompting the club to call up right-handed reliever Roddery Munoz and outfielder Ryan Vilade from Triple-A.
Jordan Walker’s wrist injury couldn’t have come at a more unfortunate time for the Cardinals’ young outfielder. He had recently started to show signs of progress at the plate, recording a .926 OPS over his last five games and hitting with more authority. Although there were still areas of concern in his overall game, including long-term questions about his plate discipline, Walker had put together a solid stretch. Over his last 15 games, he slashed .273/.289/.432 and drove in 11 runs.
However, his strikeout rate has spiked to nearly 40%, and he’s drawing fewer walks than he did earlier in the season. While his defensive improvements have been notable this year, Walker still needs to make adjustments offensively if he wants to solidify a long-term role in the Cardinals’ lineup.
In the short term, his absence opens up more playing time for Alec Burleson in right field against right-handers and allows the team to get Nolan Gorman into the lineup more consistently—something manager Oliver Marmol has recently acknowledged has been a challenge.
Though it’s a setback for Walker’s development, it presents a key opportunity for Burleson and Gorman. Burleson has a chance to prove he belongs in the everyday lineup, and if Gorman performs well, he could force the team to keep him in a regular role. If both players make strong cases, it could create lineup complications once Walker returns.
We’ll provide updates as more information becomes available regarding the severity of Walker’s injury, his expected recovery timeline, and how this affects the Cardinals’ roster decisions moving forward.