St. Louis Cardinals 2023 team award winners

Rookie of the Year - Jordan Walker

Well, this wasn't much of a surprise. The Cardinals debuted a huge amount of players this year (8, to be exact); Jordan Walker was the most anticipated of them all. The towering right fielder was a force this Spring Training, and management didn't want to wait. He started on Opening Day, and, excluding a brief demotion, played very well offensively all year.

In 2023, Walker played in 114 games. He hit .276 and slugged .445 with an on-base percentage of .342. He finished the year with a 116 wRC+, good for 16th among all qualified rookies. Jordan Walker also mashed 16 home runs, stole 7 bases, and batted in 51 runners while scoring 51 times himself.

Walker's main struggles came on the defensive side of the ball. He learned how to play the outfield on the fly this year, as he was primarily a third baseman before this year. He was worth -14 Outs Above Average between the two corner outfield spots. While he did make positive strides during the regular season, the hope is that his defense can catch up to his bat with some additional offseason work.