Shohei Ohtani’s injury scare reminds Cardinals of only realistic path to a Jordan Walker MVP

Jordan Walker's revelatory campaign with the St. Louis Cardinals deserves all the praise it's gotten, as the top-prospected-turned-bust has now morphed into an MVP candidate in his age-23 season. It's an incredible story of resiliency, and one that proves that you can indeed build around homegrown players effectively in 2026.

Hitting .302/.358/.561 (156 wRC+), Walker has become one of the most valuable hitters in baseball, ranking 14th among all National League players in fWAR (12th among position players). Even his defense has improved, as he's putting up career-best totals in Outs Above Average (-2) and Defensive Runs Saved (+5).

In nearly any other point in MLB history, his narrative would be a juicy one -- the Cardinals, a squad supposedly in the first year of their build, are suddenly a legitimate playoff contender thanks to the long-awaited breakout of a nationally renowned prospect.

Unfortunately, Walker is playing in the Senior Circuit at the same time as Shohei Ohtani.

Jordan Walker has been great for the Cardinals, but Shohei Ohtani is untouchable

Ohtani is currently in the news right now because he hurt his left knee, which is holding him out of the Los Angeles Dodgers' lineup. The injury isn't expected to require an extended absence, though even this brief hiatus has offered a reminder of just how dominant he is.

The four-time MVP is basically lapping the field in WAR, with a 4.9 mark that ranks first by a country mile. He is, as you might expect, the only player in baseball in the top 10 of both batting WAR and pitching WAR. He's made that feat seem normal in recent years, but it's almost impossible to explain how impossible that achievement was even just a few years ago.

He's the clear and obvious MVP favorite yet again, and only an extended break will keep him from securing his fifth trophy. Walker does have the edge on Ohtani in certain regards; he's hit more home runs (17 to 13), has a higher slugging percentage (.561 to .543), shockingly has more steals (10 to 6), and he's got a better narrative on the underdog team. However, the Dodgers' superstar is hitting .305/.421/.543... while recording a 1.06 ERA across 11 starts. He legitimately might win both the MVP and Cy Young this year.

This isn't about rooting for a player to get injured -- that's not in the spirit of baseball. Rather, this is a reminder to the Cardinals, who have their first legitimate MVP candidate since Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado in 2022, that this particular award is basically reserved for one man right now. Frustrating as that may be for Walker, there's really nothing he can do to match the historical greatness that is prime Ohtani.

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