Is Jordan Walker the St. Louis Cardinals Next Leadoff Hitter?

Jordan Walker, the St. Louis Cardinals top prospect, is continuing to make a name for himself, and may be the St. Louis lead-off hitter before we know it.

This post was originally shared on August 24th, 2022 but was re-shared due to Jordan Walker batting lead-off for the Cardinals today

It is an exciting time to be a St. Louis Cardinals fan. The team is littered with future Hall of Famers, exciting young talent, and has struck a beautiful balance of being fun to watch and extremely competitive.

It wouldn’t be the Cardinals without hope for the future as well. This organization has become a legit pipeline for big league talent, having a healthy dose of star level talent and under-the-radar names who become impact players. The club is also maintaining one of the larger payrolls in baseball and has future financial flexibility, making them players both in free agency and trades for big name talent.

All of that being said, one of the most exciting stories coming out of the Cardinals organization can be found in Springfield, Missouri. Top 10 prospect in all of baseball, Jordan Walker, is consistently making a name for himself, looking like a superstar in the making. This is nothing new to Cardinals fans, who most have been excited about long before national media had a pulse on the phenom.

It is unlikely that Walker would be given the opportunity to make an impact for St. Louis before the 2023 season, but there is an interesting argument to be made that the 20-year old could be th solution to one of the biggest question marks on the Cardinals roster: the lead-off position.

For the majority of the 2022 season, Tommy Edman and Dylan Carlson have been given the most consistent opportunities to hit at the top of the Cardinal lineup, but neither player has been able to seize the opportunity. Lars Nootbaar and Brendan Donovan have been given shots as well, but between the four of them, none of them appear to be the elite player that St. Louis would like to have in that spot.

Here is the case for why Walker may be not only the solution to the Cardinals biggest lineup issue, but could also be the catalyst for an elite offense taking shape.