Oliver Marmol Sends 2-Word Message on Cardinals' Jordan Walker

Before Jordan Walker saw his first pitch against the Mets on Tuesday, the oversized center field scoreboard showed an interesting fact by saying his parents graduated from Harvard and MIT respectively.

Those schools can be challenging for anyone, and with how Walker's career unfolded before this year, he was getting an arduous course in how to hit major league pitching, something that can be as challenging as some things taught at Harvard and MIT.

If the past two nights and Walker's overall body of work have shown anything, he is passing with flying colors during many of his tests against major league pitching.

Walker's performance this year has been so good that Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol succinctly described it recently, saying, "It's exciting," before providing more insight into what Walker's transformation means for the team.

Marmol isn't the only one who is thrilled by Walker's turnaround, either. Pitcher Andre Pallante called what Walker's accomplishing this year "incredible" before similarly weighing in on his turnaround.

How Walker improved from last year

As of the first full week of June, Walker is enjoying the best season of his career in terms of homers and RBIs.

His long three-run homer on Wednesday gave him a career-high 17, and those RBIs gave him a career-best 52, numbers that are one better than what he produced during 117 games as a rookie in 2023 when he batted .276.

"It's exciting," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said about five hours after also answering several pregame questions about Walker. "He's smiling on the field, enjoying being out there and he's enjoying the competition. Even when things don't go his way, you can just tell there's a different level of presence to what he's doing which is a lot of fun."

Walker's strong freshman season in the major leagues came three years after he hit .519 in high school, narrowed his college choices to Duke and Vanderbilt, and was selected by the Cardinals with their first-round pick in 2020.

The strong freshman year did not carry over to the next two seasons, though there were certainly glimpses of his potential, notably a five-hit performance at Yankee Stadium on Sept. 2, 2024 in a 14-7 win as a 22-year-old. The showing in the Bronx was part of a steep learning curve that saw him spend nearly four months in the minors after hitting .155 in the opening weeks.

And the game in Yankee Stadium raised his average 52 points to .195. It also did not unlock a hot streak as Walker finished 2024 by hitting .201 with a .619 OPS.

Numbers like that may create doubt among fantasy owners and perhaps front offices since the follow-up was a .215 average in 2025. Still, there were glimpses, such as hitting .304 last July, but it was not consistent enough.

This year, Walker is doing everything consistently well and may be the best player in baseball over the past week by hitting .424 in his past seven games. It is a span when he has a pair of homers and eight RBIs, along with five multi-hit games.

Perhaps some of his biggest improvements can be viewed from stats against various pitch types.

He is hitting .367 off sliders after batting .222 versus those pitches last season. Against fastballs, that figure is .266, a 108-point increase from last season, and his .444 average off changeups is a 244-point improvement from last season.

"What he's doing right now is incredible," Cardinals pitcher Andre Pallante said. "He's been everything that we all hoped he would be and it's awesome that he's able to do that. Last year for him was tough as well and that's not what everybody wants. Everybody wants a path to be steady, increased all the time but he went through some hardships and to have the success he's having, especially with the work he's put in, we're all happy to see it."

Where does Walker rank among NL players?

Walker's performance gives him a strong case to be on the All-Star team and even merit him being a starter via fan voting.

Among qualified outfielders, only James Wood has more homers. He is four behind emerging Dodgers' outfielder Andy Pages for the RBI lead and is among 10 qualified players hitting at least .300 in the NL.

Walker is also sixth in the NL with an impressive .926 OPS because of his .360 on-base percentage, which is 23rd in the NL.

All those accolades make Walker's strong start something to watch to see how the final numbers turn out, but based on recent events, it seems he is putting it together in a big way after several stops and starts.

"Walker deserves 100 percent of the credit. This game is hard. He is the one going out there and actually putting it together, having an approach and being consistent," Marmol said. "To go from getting beat up the last couple of years to where he is at mentally and physically at the moment, he deserves the credit."

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Walker Helps Cardinals Path to Playoffs

When Walker spent nearly four months in the minors two seasons, the Cardinals were a mediocre 83-win team. Last year, as Walker struggled again, St. Louis won 78 games and finished with a losing record for the second time in three seasons, a feat last seen between 1997 and 1999.

This year, the Cardinals have yet to see a day under .500 and are on pace for 91 wins, which is likely to be good enough to claim the first wild-card spot at the minimum.

Walker has a hit in 49 of those games, and the Cardinals are 30-16 in any game he gets a hit. Walker's emergence as an All-Star candidate is part of one of the pleasant surprises in baseball.

There's the presence of JJ Wetherholt, who is a strong Rookie of the Year candidate. There is also Ivan Herrera, who can reach base in eight straight plate appearances, and Alec Burlerson, who is providing steady numbers at first base.

Where it goes will be interesting to watch, and with what they're seeing from Walker, the Cardinals are glad they were patient in his development.

Related: James Wood is one adjustment away from being the best hitter in MLB

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This story was originally published June 11, 2026 at 7:45 AM.