Jordan Walker's historic turnaround must exasperate former Cardinals executive

For many St. Louis Cardinals fans prior to the 2026 season, the verdict was in: Jordan Walker was "cooked." After two seasons where Walker had placed among the worst hitters in baseball, much of Cardinals Nation left the then-23-year-old outfielder for dead and focused on what it hoped would be the next big thing in JJ Wetherholt.

Instead, Walker has risen from the ashes and flipped his career on its head so drastically that it's nearly unparalleled in the 150 years of Major League Baseball. Gateway Grinders posted on X that Walker's OPS jump from 2025 to 2026 is the third largest in MLB history. If not for Shohei Ohtani's two-way exploits, Walker's season so far would place him in serious conversations for MVP votes, and former President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak must now be wondering where he went wrong this time.

Under Mozeliak's regime, Walker had a -0.9 fWAR, a .240 batting average and a .680 OPS. The Cardinals demoted him to Triple-A Memphis three times in an effort for him to improve his swing and launch angle, with no tangible results at the major league level. Following Walker's third season with the Cardinals, Mozeliak departed the organization with a whimper, leaving the team in complete disarray.

Then the Cardinals' knight in shining armor swooped in. Chaim Bloom upended the Cardinals' development pipeline, luring Rob Cerfolio and Matt Pierpont away from the Cleveland Guardians and Seattle Mariners, respectively. But the move that might have been the most pivotal to Walker's transformation went comparatively under the radar.

The Cardinals' newest assistant hitting coach might be the most responsible for Walker's redemption

In late November, Bloom promoted Casey Chenoweth, the hitting coach for the Double-A Texas League champion Springfield Cardinals, to the major league club to serve as an assistant to hitting coach Brant Brown. Walker spoke highly of Brown prior to the 2025 season and was excited to see how he would improve under Brown's tutelage, but it appears to be Chenoweth who has made the most significant impact on Walker's resurrection at the plate.

Chenoweth, who worked with breakout hitter Joshua Baez in the minor leagues, has helped Walker simplify his swing while also allowing him to return to a healthier mental state after two seasons of massive struggles, reminding Walker of the type of player he is and letting his natural talent take over.

The tools were always present for Walker, but it's uncertain whether he would have unlocked it under Mozeliak or if the erstwhile executive would have eventually dumped the former top prospect for scraps the way he did with the famously once-untouchable Dylan Carlson. Bloom's cutting-edge ideas and modern analyses are another reminder that Mozeliak's exit was long overdue and that Bloom, with the help of Walker's dangerous bat, could return the Cardinals to serious contention very soon.

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