Jordan Walker has turned a corner for the Cardinals since May 14th

The 2025 year is a very important one for St. Louis Cardinals young outfielder Jordan Walker.

The former top-five prospect in all of baseball has had a rough start to his career. In 738 regular season at-bats, Walker is slashing .247/.307/.400 with only 24 home runs, 92 runs batted in, and 11 stolen bases. Those aren't exactly numbers that light up scoreboards or scream "top prospect".

The 2025 season is one where Walker intends on proving his worth.

“I have dreams about All-Star Games, the World Series and about being a Hall of Famer,” said Walker during Spring Training. “This right here is not the stuff you dream about -- being in the hot sun at 7 a.m. and putting in work. But this is what I need to achieve all my dreams. I just want to take everything step by step and continue to dream about those kinds of things.”

Walker's start to the season wasn't overly inspiring. Through his first 34 games this year, Walker was slashing .180/.252/.246. He was striking out 32% of the time, and he had recorded only four extra base hits — two home runs and two doubles. Up to that point in the year, Walker wasn't proving much. Walker's runway was shortening.

Jordan Walker has been on a tear for the Cardinals since May 14th

Since May 14th, Jordan Walker has been one of the Cardinals' best hitters. He's managed to bring his slash line up to .214/.269/.312. From May 14th through Tuesday's game against the Baltimore Orioles, where he went 2-4 with a triple, Walker is slashing .344/.344/.531 with a home run, a triple, and two doubles. Six of his 11 hits have been singles.

Of Walker's 11 hits during this stretch, eight of them have come on pitches hit harder than 100 miles per hour, including his scorching 114.4 MPH single against Baltimore Orioles starter Tomoyuki Sugano on Tuesday.

Walker is pulling the ball 50% of the time. Pulled balls are typically some of the most productive in baseball, and when you hit the ball as hard as he does while pulling it, good things will come your way. Ideally, Walker would have an average launch angle greater than the 8.8 degrees he's posted these last two weeks, but you'll take what you can get at this point.

While Walker has been figuring out the offensive side of his game, he's maintained neutral defense in right field. Thanks to some help from assistant coach Jon Jay, Walker is a neutral defender according to Outs Above Average (he was most recently a -4 defender in OAA). His arm strength ranks in the 96th percentile in all of baseball as well.

It appears as though both Walker's and manager Oliver Marmol's patience is starting to pay off for the young corner outfielder. After all, Jordan Walker is still younger than more than half of the Cardinals' top-10 prospects on MLB Pipeline.

Walker has a long way to go in his development. He's still struggling with breaking balls down and away, but he seems to have turned a corner these last two weeks. Continuing this type of production for the extended future will be difficult, but Walker is clearly doing something right lately.