Why the odd man out in Bloom’s new-look Cardinals may surprise you

In 2023, Jordan Walker was the St. Louis Cardinals’ number one-ranked prospect and number four in all of baseball. In the eyes of Cardinal Nation, the team finally found its replacement for Oscar Taveras. On March 30th, 2023, Jordan Walker made his major league debut. His debut sparked a 12-game hitting streak, which tied the MLB record for the longest hitting streak by a rookie under age 21 to start a career.

This year, in 2026, there are signs pointing to Jordan Walker starting the season in the minor leagues. 

Different tone

In years past, the front office would tell us about the things that Walker was working on during the offseason and gush about the strides he was making. This year, it feels different. 

“We have not seen the consistency that we would have hoped for by now,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said.

In September, when asked about Walker, the Cardinals' hitting coach Brant Brown said, “At some point in time he’s going to have to devote kind of a more focus on preparation.” He added, “And I think the one thing with (Walker) is we’ve kind of played a massive game of tennis going back and forth with what he feels like he needs to do versus what he really needs to do.” Brown followed this up with, “And until, you know, we can get a full commitment out of him to just say, All right, this is where I’m at. You know, if I’m looking at the numbers, like it’s not the best. But for me, there’s a really easy way out. It’s just he might have to be a little bit more uncomfortable to be able to achieve what we wanted to achieve.” 

Different times

For the past couple of years, the Cardinals still had hopes of winning, and with the lack of better options, they put their hopes in the enormous potential Jordan has. This year’s roster will have a different focus. There are other players who need to be vetted. 

Right now, the Cardinals have Lars Nootbaar, Victor Scott, and Nathan Church as outfielders. If Donovan doesn’t get traded, he is definitely a starter. There are some conversations about having JJ Wetherholt spend time in the outfield if Arenado isn’t traded. Another idea would be to take Arenado up on his offer to play first base, making room for Wetherholt at third and moving Burleson back to the outfield at times. Oh, and Bloom has already talked about wanting to add a right-handed power bat to the outfield. 

Different front office

Bloom actually had the chance to draft Walker back in 2020 while leading the Red Sox at No. 17. He passed, taking Nick Yorke instead. Now, Bloom is the one holding the stopwatch on Walker’s career, and he’s shown a much quicker trigger finger when it comes to utilizing minor league options than Mo ever did. 

Bloom’s Boston tenure was defined by aggressively using options, cycling players between Triple-A and the majors, and refusing to let draft status dictate roster decisions. He did this with one of Boston’s top prospects, Jarren Duran, and there is no reason to think he will treat Walker differently. Walker still has one minor league option remaining.

Unless Jordan Walker comes to spring training with a new swing and a whole new attitude, there is a very good chance the previously number one prospect could have to redefine himself in the minor leagues to start the season.