Jordan

Walker

Walker opened the scoring in the contest with a 396-foot (104.4-mph EV) three-run blast off of Hurston Waldrep in the top half of the first. That would be it for the Cardinals’ offense until a seven-run rally in the seventh where Walker contributed an RBI single and scored on a fielder’s choice. He has had an extremely impressive first half of the season, slashing .291/.346/.519 with 19 homers, 63 RBI and 11 stolen bases.

Walker hit a hot-shot single that brought a run home in the first inning and then stole a base. That was his 59th RBI – third-most in the National League – and 11th stolen base of the season. He later chipped in an impressive throw from right field to nail a runner at home plate. It’s also worth noting that he struck out twice in this game, which gives him 32 punch outs since the beginning of June. That’s a scary trend given his lackluster last month of play compared to how he started the season.

It appears to be a routine day off for the 24-year-old outfielder. Walker has been one of the best hitters in the National League this season, hitting .290/.343/.516 with 18 homers and 58 RBI in 338 plate appearances. Lars Nootbaar will slide over and cover right field while Bryan Torres starts in left field and will bat sixth for the Cardinals against Tyler Phillips and the Marlins on Sunday.

Walker stepped to the plate with the bases loaded in the seventh inning and laced a double to left center to bring in all three runs and put the Cardinals up 7-4. The 24-year-old righty continues to enjoy a career year and extended his hitting streak to nine games with his one-hit outing on Friday. Walker is slashing a blistering .348/.348/.587 on the month with seven extra-base hits and 12 RBI.

Walker got the Cardinals going early with a run-scoring single in the first inning. Later, he broke this game open with a three-run homer in the fourth to stretch the Cardinals lead out to 7-0. That home run was 17th of the season, which set a new career-high. His 52 RBI after this game also set a new career-high. Both of those marks were set in Walker’s rookie 2023 when he played 117 games. He’s played just a touch more than half that in what’s been a magical breakout season so far for the young slugger.

Walker’s 401-foot homer off Nick Lodolo was his 16th in 61 games. That matches his career high from his rookie season in 2023, when he played in 117 games. Walker is 8-for-13 in his last three games, taking his average back up to .301.

Walker has now had back-to-back three-hit games and is slashing .288/.323/.441 in his last 15 games. Walker’s lone RBI came in the fifth inning when he doubled to bring home Alec Burleson. While the power hasn’t been there for Walker as of late, he continues to get on base at a good rate and has come across to score eight times in his last 15 games as well.

His third hit was an RBI single that tied the game with two outs in the ninth. It took two games, but it was a little seven-RBI day for Walker. That was a typical month for him last year. In fact, he’s overtaken his 2025 total for RBI, 42 to 41, in a mere 61 fewer games (50 vs. 111). His homer tonight left the bat at 112 mph and was projected at 427 feet.

Walker took Reds reliever Connor Phillips deep with a no-doubter to right-center field in the seventh inning to give the Cardinals a commanding 5-1 advantage during the opening contest of Saturday’s twin bill. He also picked up an additional RBI with a third-inning ground out. The 24-year-old’s impressive breakout campaign continues as he’s tied for second in the National League with 14 round-trippers this season.

Walker got the Cardinals on the board with a game-tying, 409-foot (104.5 mph EV) two-run shot off of Michael Wacha. He also singled twice in the ballgame. The dynamic 23-year-old outfielder has been one of the biggest surprises in all of baseball this season, slashing a robust .303/.376/.594 with 13 homers, 34 RBI and seven stolen bases through his first 186 plate appearances.