PEORIA, Ill. (WMBD/WYZZ) — Standing at 6-foot-5, Jordan Walker is an imposing figure on the baseball field. The 19-year old sensation made his prescence known in Peoria this summer while learning the grind of professional baseball.
“It’s been an experience, honestly. Big jump from high school ball. In high school, we were playing seven innings every three day,” Walker said. “Now we’re playing nine innings six out of every seven days. So it puts a lot of strain on my body. But I really did learn a lot, honestly.”
Walker’s rookie year was split between Low-A Palm Beach and High-A Peoria. Overall, he posted a .317 batting average and 14 home runs across 82 games played. He believes the biggest change in his game this year came from his approach at the plate.
“There’s always room to improve and always room to work. Right now it’s with not missing my pitch so much,” Walker said. “Maybe you see the .300 average but there’s a lot of those pitches during those at bats that I missed that pitch. And I want to become the hitter than can drive that pitch.”
And the Cardinals top brass have paid close attention, including President of Baseball Operations John Mozeliak who came to watch Walker in August. The Cardinals hands on approach to the game is something that is helping Walker grow on a daily basis.
“If I mess up on something, coach comes in and sits me down and breaks down what happened and tells me how to correct it, obviously,” Walker added. “But mostly there are just trying to see my skills as of right now, so little tweaks here and there. I really like the approach they are doing right now.”
The path to St. Louis runs through Peoria for Cardinals prospects, and it appears Jordan Walker is well on his way