Ranking the 10 most important St. Louis Cardinals players for the 2024 season

#4 - Jordan Walker

Jordan Walker is perhaps the player I'm most excited to watch in 2024. His breakout in 2023 went largely under the radar because of the Cardinals' abysmal season and also his extremely poor defense in the outfield. However, after adjusting to a new position on the fly, Walker has worked hard with Jose Oquendo this offseason to improve as a defender. Like Nolan Gorman in 2023, I expect to see Walker post league-average numbers in right field in 2024. His athleticism is simply too special not to eventually figure it out.

Moreover, Walker has spent the offseason adding muscle to increase his exit velocity, while also working to raise his launch angle and hit more fly balls. If he succeeds, he could instantly become one of the premier young sluggers in all of baseball as he truly reaches his potential as a former top prospect. Many projection systems have Walker as the best hitter on the Cardinals in 2024 and that's no discredit to his teammates.

He spent much of 2023 figuring out Major League Baseball while learning a new position and one of the worst Cardinals seasons of all time. That experience should propel him to become an even better player in 2024. If he puts all the pieces together, which I certainly expect him to do, he could rise quickly to the heart of the Cardinals' order and become one of the best players in the league. Walker's offseason improvements and adjustments will be critical in the Cardinals lineup taking a leap forward and becoming one of the most powerful units in all of baseball.