3 concerning Cardinals stats to monitor, and 2 that should encourage fans

Encouraging: 23.8%

23.8% represents the Barrel% Jordan Walker has had in Triple-A since July 30th. For context, that would be the second-best barrel rate in all of baseball this year if done over the course of a season. If you're unfamiliar with what a barrel is, it is a battled ball event where the exit velocity and launch angle is comparable to other batted balls that share a common denominator of an .500 BA and 1.500 SLG.

Over the weekend, Walker hit two bombs for Memphis and added a triple to his stat line as well. He's posted a 1.090 OPS in his last 65 at-bats, and if you just watch him at the plate, you can tell he is confident and swinging with authority.

No, I'm not trying to act like Walker would put up that kind of production at the MLB level the rest of the year, but what I am saying is that Walker has been incredible since making real adjustments at the plate recently, and he's finally hitting the ball with authority and power like the Cardinals have dreamed he could.

When Jordan Walker was demoted to Memphis last year, he was able to quickly find his swing and return to St. Louis with a powerful swing for the final four months of the season. While Walker has taken quite a while to figure things out this time, you could argue that this is the best he has looked since the beginning of the 2023 season - and Walker was 20% above league average offensively for that stretch last year.

I'm not sure if we will see Walker called up soon or not, but I am of the belief now that we will see the young outfielder back in St. Louis before the season ends. While that may not seem all that crazy of a take, I honestly did not expect to see Walker back with the big league club until 2025, given how things have been going this summer. But seriously, Walker looks like he's figured it out.