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5 early Spring Training standouts for the St. Louis Cardinals
Jordan Walker, OF
Spring Training is a time of temptation. Fans often have to be warned that just because a player is excelling, it doesn’t mean he’ll be able to transition his success once the games start counting.
That being said, OMG.
Jordan Walker is not just impressing this spring; he’s making an embarrassment of the league. The 20-year-old crown jewel of the Cardinals’ farm system is leading Major League Baseball so far in slugging percentage (1.167) and OPS (1.667). He’s also hitting .500, with nine hits in 18 at-bats.
I was leaning toward Walker not cracking the roster out of Spring Training, but this kind of performance is making it so the Cardinals have little choice. The hype around Walker has become a frenzy, and if he can produce anywhere close to this in the regular season with the major league club, the comparisons to a young Albert Pujols might not seem so wild.