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The St. Louis Cardinals introduced on Saturday that outfielder Jordan Walker has made the Opening Day roster. The 20-year-old rookie will, because of this, make his big-league debut without first playing in a unmarried Triple-A sport.
CBS Sports not too long ago ranked Walker because the 6th very best prospect in the minors. He’s since earned his means onto the roster by way of posting an .831 OPS in his first 62 spring working towards plate appearances. Here’s what we wrote on the time:
Walker has immense energy, ensuing in the type of uncooked energy that would make him a prototypical middle-of-the-order slugger. In order to totally get right of entry to that pop, scouts be expecting that he’s going to wish to proceed to discover ways to carry the ball extra continuously — remaining season, greater than 45 % of his batted balls had been grounders. (Some degree in his prefer is that almost all evaluators consider it is more straightforward to coach release attitude than go out speed.) There was once at all times an opportunity Walker would outgrow the new nook, and the Cardinals have already taken to cross-training him in the outfield. Whatever place Walker finally ends up playing, his bat would be the major draw. It’s imaginable that he may change into the newest younger Cardinals hitter to take common at-bats someday in 2023.
The Cardinals optioned Juan Yepez to the minors over the weekend, giving them the facility to hold Walker, every other right-handed-hitting outfielder. Manager Oli Marmol may have the luxurious of forming lineups the usage of some mixture of Walker, Lars Nootbaar, Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson, Nolan Gorman, and Alec Burleson in the outfield.
Walker, a first-round pick out in 2020, batted .306/.388/.510 in 119 Double-A video games remaining season. Under the brand new Collective Bargaining Agreement, he would earn the Cardinals a draft pick out if he had been to win the Rookie of the Year Award.
The Cardinals will start their season on Thursday, March 30, by way of web hosting the Toronto Blue Jays.
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