Bare Jordan

 

Remember back in March when the prospect of a Jordan Walker rookie card left the promise of dollar signs in the eyes of prospectors? 

Oh man, what a year it's been. Jordan Walker began his career with an incredible hitting streak, then stopped hitting, got himself demoted, then was promoted again when the bottom fell out of the Cardinals' season, and instead of being a prevailing force of contact hitting for this team, he's...just kinda there.

And so even as Walker's rookie cards are hitting the streets, and are probably well peppered throughout the products Topps has planned through the end of the year, the rookie right fielder is currently hitting .260 with 76 hits, 35 RBIs and 11 home runs. Brendan Donovan is out for the rest of the year, and there's a decent chance he'll still finish the season with more hits than Walker. That is how things have gone for him. And after how confident he felt in his initial few weeks, I'm honestly really sad to see this.

To be honest, there's a lot of 'can't miss' Cardinals prospects that have missed quite a bit this year, aside from Walker. Matthew Liberatore, who was getting raves back in the Rays organization, has a 6.12 ERA in 11 starts, and still doesn't seem to be too prepared for MLB work. Masyn Wynn, brought up this week to succeed Paul DeJong at short, has yet to bat a run in through 3 games. Luken Baker, a DH who's hit 33 home runs in Memphis this year, still has yet to hit his first Cardinals homer. Even Alec Burleson, who was given a much fuller role for 2023, is only hitting .243 with 28 RBIs in 89 games. The Cardinals have brought up Drew Rom, a pitching prospect they received from the Orioles last month, and as I write this he's being lit up by the Pirates, a team desperate to stay ahead of them in the standings. 

As good as these prospects are, maybe there's just something keeping the Cardinals down this year, and not just the team but the people who've left the team. If you ask me, maybe that playoff loss last year lifted the curse against the Phillies and brought it on them, and that'd be really delicious if that was it. Maybe it's Oli Marmol, maybe he just can't get a solid team together. Honestly, it may just not be this organization's year, much like it's not the Yankees' year. 

A common theme through a lot of teams that have suffered greatly this year, including the Cardinals, Yankees, Pirates, White Sox, A's and Tigers, is that they're all 100+ year old organizations. Meanwhile, some of the best teams this year have been teams like the Rays, Diamondbacks, Mariners, Brewers, Rangers and Blue Jays, all formed in the last half-century [give or take a few years]. Even if a lot of the still-competitive teams are ones that have been lucky lately, like the Dodgers, Astros and Red Sox, the cutting out of the old standard guys who always win does give other teams a chance to create some highlights, as well as a chance for teams like the Mariners, Brewers, Rays, Padres or Rangers to win their first organizational rings, or teams like the Twins, Reds, Jays, Marlins and Phillies to win their first in decades. 

The Cardinals will compete again, perhaps as soon as next year. But them not competing this year, if you can believe it, is good for the rest of the league. And if you're genuinely worried about Jordan Walker, fear not: it took Bobby Witt a year or so to get it, and Walker's still only 21. It'll happen eventually, I reckon.

Coming Tomorrow- A trusted starting pitcher for a team that picked the exact wrong time to get swept.