Major League (MLB) St. Louis Cardinals’ No. 1 prospect Jordan Walker (21) is expected to start the 2023 season in the big leagues.
MLB.com said on the 26th (Korean time), 스포츠토토quoting St. Louis Baseball Operations President John Moseliac, “Walker will be named to the Opening Day roster (26) to be announced on Sunday morning (local time).” The Cardinals will also make changes to their 40-man roster to make room for Walker.
Walker is a player rated as the 4th overall prospect in the MLB pipeline and the 1st overall in the Cardinals. He played in 19 games in the exhibition game for this spring camp, and recorded a batting average of 0.286, a slugging percentage of 0.508, 3 homers and 9 RBIs. When he hit two home runs against the Washington Nationals on the 5th, local media evaluated that the successor to St. Louis legend Albert Pujols had appeared. The first home run in the 3rd inning was a huge arch with a distance of 143m, and the second home run in the 7th inning had an exit speed of 115 miles (185.07km/h). When Walker showed off his outstanding physical condition (height: 196 cm) and even brute strength, both MLB fans and the media remembered Pujols as a rookie.
General manager Moselliak said, “There were a lot of players who participated in the WBC, and thanks to that, Walker got a lot of opportunities to hit. told the reason.
Walker joined St. Louis with the first overall pick in the 2020 draft, played in the Rookie League in 2021 and Double A last year (2022). He went straight to the big leagues without going through Triple-A.
Walker struck out more in the final stages of the exhibition game. He recorded one or more in six consecutive games against the Houston Astros on the 18th. MLB.com paid attention to this point, but also mentioned that Walker got his second walk in an exhibition match against the Miami Marlins on the 26th.