Jordan Walker is playing his way into some fun conversations for the Cardinals

Let's get the obvious observation out of the way: Jordan Walker is having a bad season in 2025.

The former top prospect has seemingly been mired in a two-year long slump since a strong rookie campaign in 2023, and 2025 may be his worst effort yet. The 23-year-old outfielder is slashing .233/.288/.327 with a career-low four home runs and a career-worst 30.9% strikeout rate, good for a 74 wRC+ and -0.7 fWAR.

However, the Cardinals have repeatedly stood by their right fielder through his struggles, and though the hope may be faint, Walker is starting to repay their faith.

Jordan Walker starting to resemble his rookie self in second half

Since the All-Star break, Walker is slashing .284/.333/.395 in 87 plate appearances. From the first half, his walk rate is up 0.6%, his strikeout rate is down 6.6%, his OPS is up by more than 150 points, and his wOBA and wRC+ have gone from well-below-average territory to .320 and 107, respectively.

Now, that's still not the production of an All-Star, and Walker continues to fall short of the standard he set in his rookie campaign.

However, the underlying data is promising, and there's enough in the metrics to suggest that even this version of Walker is a quality regular.

Though his ground ball rate has actually spiked by about eight percent since the first half, Walker is (finally) pulling the ball more again, as his pulled ball rate has jumped by nearly seven percent since the All-Star break. That, in turn, has led to Walker hitting the ball harder, hence his 36.2% hard-hit rate since mid-July (32.5% in the first half).

His bat speed is also off the charts, though that's been consistent throughout the entire season. He swings, on average, at 78 mph, a 99th-percentile figure among qualified hitters. He'll need to continue working on toning down his awful chase and whiff habits, but as long as he can continue to time the ball correctly, that kind of bat speed should naturally lead to a lot of power to his pull side.

It's here we must acknowledge a few drawbacks, including the usual small sample size caveat. What Walker is doing in the second half is impressive, though he hasn't even stepped up to the plate 100 times. He needs to prove capable of replicating this over a larger period of time.

Of course, Walker has also proven to be injury prone this season, needing separate injured list stints for a wrist injury and appendicitis during the first half. Those were the first times he's been placed on the IL since his minor league days, though it bears monitoring how his body holds up, especially considering that his awful defense (-5 Outs Above Average in right field this season) could eventually necessitate a full-time move to DH.

If we're able to look past those issues—and squint hard enough to ignore his continued strikeout problems—Walker remains a slugger with immense potential. At 23 years old, his best may still be ahead of him.