Giving Jordan Walker just one thing to focus on could save his Cardinals future

Roster cuts are coming all across Major League Baseball and the St. Louis Cardinals are moving closer to finalizing their Opening Day roster as the season opener approaches. While some moves have showed the team's hand in some aspects, others remain to be sorted out over the last week or so of games.

While left field, catcher, and the pitching situation still have some trimming to do, the rest of the roster seems pretty much set, and, like it or not, Jordan Walker is going to be the Opening Day right fielder. This has always been the likely outcome for the 2026 season, no matter the frustration of performance, attitude, or whatever we can say to give a reason behind Walker's failure to launch so far as a big leaguer. Among the culprits have been being rushed to the majors after decent minor league performance as well as working through learning a new position while on the major league roster. While both are true, maybe the Cardinals can take away one variable in what is becoming a massive season for Walker's future.

Should the Cardinals move Jordan Walker to full-time DH in hopes he can regain his offensive production?

When Jordan Walker was drafted as a third baseman, he was viewed as an athletic specimen with power, contact, speed, and a rocket for an arm. Four tools out of five coming from an absolute mammoth of a man was enough to intrigue everyone. However, the Cardinals were set at third base with Nolan Arenado entrenched to move the team past the first round of the playoffs, so the team made the easy move to ease Walker away from the defensive needs of hot corner and move him to the grass to streamline his path to the bigs.

Without rehashing the entirety of his disappointing career to this point, I want to attempt to give Walker the benefit of the doubt so far. Learning a new position while adjusting to major league pitching, despite having batting average success, is not a small task. It would be extremely easy for Walker to be overwhelmed by the disappointment, but also the noise coming from national media and fans. Most recently, we heard that Walker might have lost his love for the game, and that comes after hearing that he was not always open to coaching suggestions or working his hardest. Without facts to back this up, that has to be exhausting for all parties involved. Having met and spoken with Walker in person, I will say that even if he has heard all this external noise, he did not let that impact his positive and outgoing demeanor.

That is not me giving him a pass on his performance, but rather a reminder that even though these players are the best in the world, they are still human. When Walker, or anyone, has to focus on changing multiple things at once while facing 100mph fastballs and nasty sliders, it is hard to pinpoint what worked and what did not. Because of the Cardinals needing Walker to get his offense figured out, would it be the worst thing if he became the team's full-time designated hitter?

I admit, I am usually against pigeonholing a young player into the DH role so early in their career, but in such an important season for Walker, what better way to get him just to concentrate on his best tool? With the number of injury questions surrounding Ivan Herrera on the defensive side, it is likely that if the Cardinals decide to move him off of catcher, he is going to be ticketed for the DH role because of his offensive potential. Prior conversations have discussed Herrera moving to the outfield, but that would be another player working through a position change at the big league level.

Herrera's presence is the biggest reason I do not see this being an opportunity for Walker in 2026. I also do think that Walker is going to have every at-bat possible to stay in the lineup, but maybe the Cardinals set a soft All-Star break deadline to reassess his performance. At that time, the team may alter course and see if Walker can fully tap into his offense.