The future is still undecided for Cardinals' former top prospect

The St. Louis Cardinals welcomed in the voice of their new era when Chaim Bloom held his first press conference since officially being named President of Baseball Operations. Among the topics that Bloom addressed during his time on the microphone was the evaluation of the young talent both on the 26-man roster and in the minor leagues.

Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman were both expected to be major pieces of the next Cardinals core, but each of them underperformed in differing roles again in 2025. Both players were supposed to be given opportunity to cement themselves into the team's future, but even with extended playing time, the jury is still out on their long-term fit. Bloom was asked to evaluate their previous season sand how that builds into the winter months, and the new POBO remained positive in their raw talent. In regards to Gorman, Bloom believes that there was once again inconsistent playing time that feed into Gorman's incomplete report card, but when speaking of Walker, Bloom acknowledged this offseason is important for the outfielder.

Chaim Bloom wants to see improvement from Jordan Walker quickly.

The major league roster will go through a period of turnover this offseason, but fans should not expect Walker to be a part of that group being sent to new places. Bloom still believes that Walker is going to have success at the big league level, but the organization agrees that those results need to show up soon. He also stated that the type of adjustment they need to see from the 23-year-old is clear without directly saying it. Bloom said, "We all have a good idea of what the adjustment should look like. I give him a lot of credit for trying to do that midseason."

Anyone who saw Walker take an at-bat this season had a 31.8% chance of seeing him go down on strikes, and the odds were pretty good that plate appearance would end with him chasing a breaking ball out of the zone. To Bloom's point, it did seem like Walker was able to make an adjustment near the midway point of the season, but the youngster was unable to extend that success he saw in July. During that month, the former top prospect put up an .808 OPS thanks to six doubles and five walks in 46 at-bats. In the final two months, though, Walker lost all plate discipline and saw his strikeout rate near 35%.

"I really do think (Walker) is a type of talent and player where we are going to see results at the big-league level. For his sake certainly, but also our sake as an organization, we need that to happen soon. The offseason for him is a big one.”
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Chaim Bloom

In 141 at-bats in August and September, the outfielder totaled just six extra-base hits while striking out 49 times, but did manage to drive in 14 runs through season's end. With the team looking to clear out some lefties from their lineup, Walker's spot in the major league outfield appears safe for the time being. Even with one minor league option remaining, it appears Bloom and his staff need to see Walker continue to play every day at the major league level rather than work on any mechanical adjustments down in Memphis. Regardless of where he spends his time, it is clear Walker and the organization need to see progress soon.