New poll signifies that Jordan Walker may have given Cardinals fans a reality check

Remember the early days of 2023? The St. Louis Cardinals had just come off of a bitter Wild Card playoff exit at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies, but the immediate future appeared bright. Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado had just come off of MVP and near-MVP seasons, respectively, and a hotshot prospect was waiting in the wings to anchor the Cardinals lineup for the next decade.

That young slugger was, of course, Jordan Walker. Prior to the 2023 season, St. Louis was abuzz over Walker's potential, as he had carved up Double-A with a .306 average and 19 home runs. MLB Pipeline ranked Walker as the fourth-best prospect in baseball. The intensity of fans' expectations was illustrated when Kyle Reis created a poll asking fans if they would be happy if Walker's career mirrored that of former Cardinals outfielder J.D. Drew. Nearly 5,000 people cast their vote, and the response was eye-opening, as 59% of fans said they would be disappointed if Walker had a career identical to Drew's.

People are familiar with how Walker's time in baseball has played out to this point, and many fans might now be ecstatic if he can turn in a Drew-like career. As fans' hopes for Walker to turn his career around dwindle further with each season, their eyes have now turned to the next prospect speeding around the bend. But if the latest poll is any indication, those who follow the Cardinals are now a bit more wary of getting out over their skis for the next big thing.

Walker's collapse could have affected fans' expectations for JJ Wetherholt.

Brandon Kiley of the St. Louis radio station 101 ESPN sent out a poll asking whether fans would be satisfied if Wetherholt's first seven seasons in the major leagues matched those of Bo Bichette, the former Toronto Blue Jays shortstop who just signed with the New York Mets. Unlike the results of Reis' post from 2023 about Walker and Drew, this poll showed overwhelming satisfaction if Wetherholt were to churn out seven Bichette-like years.

Drew's career was superior to what Bichette has managed to produce thus far, but that's not a knock on Bichette, who has hit .294 with an .806 OPS and a 121 OPS+. Drew, meanwhile, held a career .278 average with an .847 OPS and an OPS+ of 125. Clearly, something changed regarding what would please fans in the careers of two of their highest-rated prospects in the past decade.

Wetherholt ranks fifth on MLB Pipeline's 2026 top prospects list, but where boundless excitement reigned in 2023 for Walker's debut, the enthusiasm surrounding Wetherholt hasn't reached the same heights: It appears more muted, with an air of trepidation among fans. There is plenty of merit to that feeling, as unlike the high expectations entering 2023, few people believe the Cardinals will ascend from the basement of the division in 2026, meaning Wetherholt's importance to the team in the here and now is far less crucial than Walker's was. Another potential reason is that Walker's ceiling appeared higher than Wetherholt's. Walker was seen as a potential superstar, whereas most scouting reports give Wetherholt a much higher floor than Walker but a more modest peak.

Nervousness regarding the Cardinals in the next few seasons could also play a role. Emotions were high coming off of 2022, and Walker's rapid ascent as a 20-year-old skipping Triple-A conjured up images of a generational power threat. Many saw Walker as a complement to Goldschmidt and Arenado, potentially creating a three-headed monster in 2023 and having Walker take over their role when the two began to regress with age. Now, as the Cardinals plunge into a rebuild with no stars on the roster, Wetherholt serves as a possible light at the end of the tunnel and one of the foundational pieces for the next successful Cardinals team. If he doesn't pan out, the Cardinals could be mired in a rebuild that might take at least five years to emerge from.

Fans' eagerness to witness Walker develop into the next Cardinals superstar placed plenty of pressure on the young outfielder, and perhaps the comparatively lower level of hoopla around Wetherholt will be a positive for him as the next player on whom Cardinals supporters are pinning their hopes.

The apprehension in the air around Cardinals Nation is reflected in the desperation for Wetherholt to produce something for fans to grasp onto for the next few seasons, even if it's not at the level of a franchise-altering talent. Walker's faceplant has not provided fans or the Cardinals with fuzzy feelings, but it may have helped prevent expectations of Wetherholt from getting out of hand.