The Cardinals may quietly be limiting Jordan Walker's playing time

2025 was supposed to be the season where Jordan Walker would sink or swim in an everyday role with the St. Louis Cardinals. With the team not expected to make much of a splash in the standings amid a focus on the young players, it was expected that Walker would be given every chance to succeed. But as the Cardinals have emerged as a legitimate divisional contender thus far, Walker's playing time has begun to dwindle a bit.

The Cardinals could be using Walker in a semi-platoon role.

Walker has been a weak link in the Cardinals' strong offensive lineup. He is hitting .189 to this point on the season, with a dismal 48 OPS+ — that's 52 points below league average. He has performed slightly better against left-handed pitchers, hitting .227 off of them, compared with his .170 average against right-handers, and the Cardinals may be looking to mainly deploy Walker against southpaws for the foreseeable future.

The Cardinals have faced a large number of left-handed starters over the past week and a half: Six of their last nine games have had a left-hander toeing the rubber to start the game against them. Walker has started all six of those games against lefty starters, but notably, he has sat out all of the three games where right-handers were on the bump.

Walker has shown slight improvement in his past few games, earning three hits in 10 at-bats, including the game-deciding home run on May 17 against the Kansas City Royals. More encouragingly, he has only struck out once in that time frame.

The Cardinals are unlikely to use Walker as a 100% strict platoon bat, but it wouldn't be surprising to see him continue to start fewer games against right-handed pitchers. Alec Burleson, who has been Walker's main replacement against right-handers, has heated up as of late, hitting .306 with four home runs in May, so in addition to limiting Walker's plate appearances because of his struggles, the Cardinals need to find playing time for Burleson as he continues to get into a groove on the season.

As the Cardinals continue forward in the season and face a more typical number of right-handers, Walker will likely still get a decent share of starts, albeit not as many as the team and fans expected heading into the year. The Cardinals are handling Walker the right way in what has become a difficult tightrope to balance on. Sending him back to Triple-A will not accomplish anything regarding his development; he needs to see major league pitching if he wants to turn into a successful player.

The Cardinals could utilize Walker in a similar way to how they handled Albert Pujols in 2022. At the start of the season, Pujols mainly faced lefties. The right-handers he faced were ones who were soft-tossers. Walker could be handled in the same way, albeit against right-handers who don't throw exceptional sliders, which is the pitch that has given Walker fits against righties throughout his major league career.

Walker's usage will be worth keeping tabs on as we get deeper into the year. Walker will turn 23 on May 22, and despite his youth, this season is paramount in determining his future in St. Louis.