This Cardinals runway player is making a statement lately

When Jordan Walker went on the Injured List on June 25th, he was mired in a miserable offensive season. At the time, Walker was slashing .210/.267/.295, and his 59 wRC+ was near the bottom of the league. Walker was striking out in one-third of his at-bats, and he was hitting the ball on the ground 45.6% of the time. His hard-hit rate was just 32.5%.

Those aren't ideal numbers for a player who was supposed to be a heart-of-the-lineup bat for the St. Louis Cardinals for years to come.

Walker hit the IL following an appendectomy on June 25th. He started a rehab assignment on July 3rd with the Springfield Cardinals. His .158/.256/.395 slash line in Springfield was a bit uninspiring, but he did hit two home runs and three doubles in only 10 games, showing that he was altering his swing path and approach slightly compared to his play in the majors.

Before his first rehab assignment with Springfield, Walker spoke with reporters, reassuring them that he feels good physically. "(The doctors) said that once (the appendicitis) went away, it should be gone for good, but you never know for sure...As of right now, I feel really good...I'm ready to get going."

Walker was reactivated on July 18th against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He's 11-35 in the month of July with five doubles and three runs batted in. He's struck out nine times and walked four times for a slash line of .314/.385/.457 in the month of July, a marked improvement over his early-season numbers.

Jordan Walker has made dramatic improvements since returning from the Injured List.

Walker is still hitting the ball on the ground often (54.2%), but he's made much harder contact since coming back to action. His 41.7% hard-hit rate would be the best of his career if he can keep it up.

Walker has logged exit velocities in excess of 95 MPH, the speed at which a ball is deemed "hard hit," 13 times. That's exceptional for him.

Walker hasn't been able to turn these exit velocities into home runs, but he has been awfully close a few times since returning. In the series against Arizona, Walker missed a home run by inches on a ball that was hit 103.2 MPH and traveled 408 feet. Diamondbacks center fielder Alek Thomas made a fantastic catch at the deepest part of the field to rob Walker of a big hit.

"A lot of my approach in the cages...is to stay up the middle. When I'm doing that, it helps me stay on the ball," says Walker of his approach.

Walker was also asked about his pitch selection. "There's still some pitches that fool me that pull away a little bit, but I definitely think I'm moving in the right direction." Walker has struggled throughout his career with breaking balls away, particularly down and away. If he can lay off those pitches more while doing greater damage on pitches over the plate, he could find ample offensive success down the stretch.

In that same series, Walker launched a double to left field. It would have been a home run in 28 out of 30 major league ballparks, but it landed in a little nook at Chase Field that kept it in the park.

Throughout his career, Jordan Walker has struggled to put it all together. He's had brief shining moments of glory where his prospect status came through, but he hasn't been able to consistently hit the ball hard and in the air to generate meaningful offense.

It's been only eight games, but Jordan Walker has made improvements since returning from the Injured List.