7 players facing their last stand with the Cardinals heading out of All-Star break

Jordan Walker

The poster child for this "runway" season, Jordan Walker, has been awful at the plate, flashed encouraging signs in the outfield defensively, but has also missed significant time due to injuries.

55 games and 191 plate appearances are far off the pace the Cardinals hoped he'd be on at this point in the year to see what potential he still has in his bat, but honestly, Walker hasn't done anything to justify real runway moving forward the rest of the year. There has to be nuance in conversations like this. Yes, the Cardinals said Walker would have every opportunity this year to prove his worth, but at some point, being as bad as he's been has to matter, especially when other options are producing.

Walker has put up a .210/.267/.295 slash line with three home runs and 23 RBI this year, and his 60 wRC+ means he's been 40% below league average at the plate and among the worst hitters in all of baseball. While the defense has been better, it's not good enough to make him a valuable player with how bad his bat is, as he would be tied with Brenton Doyle for the second-worst fWAR in all of baseball (-0.8) if he qualified for leaderboards.

Adding to that, Walker's 33% strikeout rate, .295 SLG, and .085 ISO are all career worsts, which is even more disheartening considering those are three of the areas the Cardinals needed to see improvement from Walker in 2025. While Walker has regressed, Alec Burleson and Nolan Gorman have taken advantage of their opportunities, and Ivan Herrera's move away from the catcher position further complicated opportunities.

So what do you do with a player who is performing this poorly but has such high prospect pedigree and is still just 23 years old?

The Cardinals are reportedly weighing their options. For now, he's on the roster, and they will try to find time for him to play, but it will be difficult with the other players on their roster. If they move other position players in trades, it could free up space for him. They could look to trade Walker as well, something Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported was at least a consideration.

I wouldn't rule out Walker being optioned to Memphis at some point as well if they do not find playing time for him, but your guess is as good as mine as to how this situation unfolds. Walker is being activated off the injured list today, so time is ticking for him to get things going.