St. Louis Cardinals promote Jordan Walker to High-A

Jordan Walker joins Nolan Gorman in St. Louis Cardinals prospects getting promoted, with Walker headed to High-A Peoria.

The St. Louis Cardinals promoted infielder Nolan Gorman to Triple-A Memphis on Monday, but he wasn’t the only top prospect who moved up a level.

Jordan Walker, a third base prospect, was promoted from Low-A Palm Beach to High-A Peoria. At 19, he will be among the youngest players at that level, but his production and rise to becoming a top 100 prospect warranted such a move.

Walker hit .374, which ranked first on his team and third in the league. His six home runs were tied for first on the team and ranked tied for sixth in the league. His 24 runs were first on the team. His .475 OBP ranked first on the team and seventh in the league. His .687 SLG ranked first on the team and fourth in the league. His 1.162 OPS ranked first on the team and fourth in the league while his 12 extra base hits ranked first on the team and sixth in the league.

When asked about Walker’s promotion, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak told reporters (including Jeff Jones of the Belleville News-Democrat) that he can only remember two players having similar success to Walker at his age at that level: Albert Pujols and Oscar Taveras.

It’s the strongest endorsement yet for Walker, who is penciled in as the Cardinals’ long-term third baseman. There was some thought that the team could use him as a trade chip to acquire another starting pitcher, but Mozeliak’s comments about Walker — and him recently stating his desire to not gut the farm system to acquire rentals this season — would seem to suggest that he will stay put at the trade deadline.

But in Walker and Gorman, the Cardinals have two long-term stalwarts at two key infield positions. And if Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt are still around by the time they are both called up … it could end up being the most talented and deep infield in baseball, which should have the entire organization salivating at just how dominant that quartet could be.