The St. Louis Cardinals, off to a sluggish 10-14 begin that has them located in final place within the Nationwide League Central, made a number of roster strikes forward of Wednesday’s collection finale towards the Arizona Diamondbacks. Most notable amongst these was the choice to demote outfielder and former high prospect Jordan Walker to Triple-A Memphis. (The Cardinals additionally farmed out lefty Zack Thompson to create room on the 26-player roster for the newly promoted  duo of infielder José Fermín and southpaw John King.)

Walker, 21, has been mired in a depressing droop to open the 12 months. Via 20 video games, he batted .155/.239/.259 (41 OPS+) with no dwelling runs and 5 extra-base hits. He had been benched in two of the Cardinals’ final three video games, then acquired a begin at DH on Tuesday night time, going 0 for 3 with a strikeout and successful by pitch in a 14-1 defeat.

The demotion is well-timed, if nothing else. Friday, April 26, will mark a 12 months since Walker was demoted after shockingly making the 2023 Opening Day roster. He would return to the majors on June 2, and from that time onward he hit .277/.346/.455 with 14 dwelling runs in 97 video games. It is truthful to conclude that the Cardinals have been hoping for extra of that from Walker to start this 12 months. Alas, few developmental arcs are so pristine.

You may be questioning simply how Walker finds himself once more on the mistaken facet of the big-league, minor-league divide — and if there’s cause to consider he can reside as much as the promise that when earned him consideration as one of many recreation’s high prospects. Beneath, CBS Sports activities has lined 4 issues price understanding about his struggles and his future.

1. Underlying information largely constructive

Let’s play a recreation. Which of those batters would you quite have in your lineup?

Our guess is that you’d favor Batter A, and that it isn’t notably shut. Why would not you? They hit the ball more durable on common than Batter B, they barrel the ball extra often than Batter B, they usually keep their zone and make contact at higher charges than Batter B. It is such a simple query that you simply simply know there is a trick to it.

There may be. Here is our telegraphed uppercut: each hitters are Walker.

Batter A represents Walker’s 2024 season, whereas Batter B is his 2023 effort. If all you needed to go off was his superior metrics, you’d most likely conclude that he is within the midst of a breakout season. Insead, he has nothing to indicate for it besides a flight to Memphis.

So, how does a batter enhance in all of these methods with out boosting their statline? It has to do with the place the ball is being hit.

2. Spray stays problem

Walker has confronted questions on his spray courting again to his prospect days. The idea amongst evaluators who’ve spoken to CBS Sports activities on the subject is that it is simpler to show a batter to elevate the ball extra typically than it’s to show them to affect the ball extra typically. That is in keeping with Walker being universally held as among the finest offensive prospects within the recreation.

Sadly, Walker stays a piece in progress. His common launch angle has ticked up, from 10.2 levels to 12.8 levels, however that does not imply the shift has been fruitful. Relatively, Walker is definitely hitting extra grounders (50% versus 46.9%) and fewer balls within the “candy spot” between 10 and 30 levels (28.6% versus 33.6%). 

To place it one other method, Walker has been taking part in pepper with opposing third basemen: 

There’s one other development price declaring from that spray chart: Walker is not pulling the ball for energy within the air. Of his 4 extra-base hits to left area, each single one in every of them got here on a floor ball that squeezed between the fielder and the foul line. He hasn’t a lot as pulled a line drive or fly ball to left. This proper right here is the closest he is come, and it is truthful to categorise it as a line drive to left-center area — not left area itself. 

Walker’s important promoting level is his prodigious energy. These sorts of hitters must be hitting the ball arduous and excessive to their pull facet. For so long as all the pieces he pulls is being topped, he is not going to reside as much as his middle-of-the-order potential. That is essential to notice as a result of ….

3. Restricted ability set does not assist

Let’s face it. Walker does not convey a ton to the desk outdoors of his offense. He is extra athletic for his dimension than you may anticipate (he ranks within the eightieth percentile in dash velocity), however he does not trigger havoc on the basepaths and final season he graded as one of many worst defenders in all of Main League Baseball. Even when he is improved to a scratch degree, that is not sufficient for groups to maneuver heaven and hell to maintain the participant within the lineup if they are not producing on the plate.

The onus, then, could be very a lot on Walker’s bat. It is what is going to get him performed and paid on the big-league degree. The excellent news is that his points appear fixable; the unhealthy information is they continue to be problematic regardless of not being novel. Maybe no matter tweaks the Cardinals take into account for him at Memphis will take. We’ll see.

4. Cardinals want offensive increase

The choice to demote Walker most likely wasn’t a simple one for the Cardinals to make. The herky-jerky nature of his improvement hasn’t been supreme, even when every step has made sense on the time it was taken. There is no telling if or how a lot that’ll hinder him transferring ahead. Nonetheless, it is a threat the Cardinals needed to take to salvage this season.

It is no stretch to write down that the Cardinals have one of many worst offenses in baseball. They enter Wednesday ranked twenty sixth in runs scored and twenty seventh in wRC+. Walker wasn’t alone in not hitting: Paul Goldschmidt, Nolan Gorman, Michael Siani, and Alec Burleson all have an OPS+ beneath 80. To return on the Cardinals’ woes from a unique angle: Brendan Donovan’s 86 mark, whereas properly beneath his norms, ranks fifth on the crew amongst qualifiers. It is by no means signal when a would-be horrific private efficiency appears to be like respectable compared to the remainder of the lineup.

Realistically, the Cardinals cannot demote each hitter who has struggled for the primary month. What they will do is decide their spots the place they’ve depth and the place the participant has minor-league choices remaining. That is why Victor Scott II was despatched to the farm after a putrid 20-game introduction, and that is why Walker is becoming a member of him. 

Regardless of this setback, Walker is much from a misplaced trigger. He is simply not somebody who must be on the big-league roster proper now. That may change in a matter of weeks. The Cardinals can solely hope it does — the very best model of their membership contains him.