Walker earns All-MLB honors after long-awaited big league breakout

It finally clicked for Jordan Walker.

Following a scorching start to his Major League career in 2023, the heralded Cardinals prospect slumped over the next two seasons.

Then it happened: Walker broke out with a performance commensurate with the lofty expectations. The 24-year-old right fielder hit 29 home runs, drove in 102 runs and stole 22 bases for St. Louis this past season, earning his first career All-Star selection. He even won the Home Run Derby in Philadelphia along the way, defeating heavyweight hometown favorite Kyle Schwarber.

And on Wednesday, it was announced at the MLB Awards presented by MGM Rewards that Walker had been selected to the All-MLB Second Team.

The All-MLB Team was established in 2019 to recognize baseball’s best players at each position based on regular-season play. The honor was introduced to highlight players’ full-season contributions, given that All-Star selections are based on first-half performance. Fans voted at MLB.com to help choose First and Second Team selections at each position (including three outfielders, a designated hitter, five starting pitchers and two relievers).

Walker’s first-half performance this year made him one of the best offensive players in the sport. At the All-Star break, his slash line was .294/.354/.532 and he had belted 22 homers. He continued to hit well through August, but struggled in September, when he posted a .519 OPS.

Walker’s overall performance was still a major step forward in a career that could feature more All-Star selections in the future.

In particular, Walker’s bat speed was elite -- his average bat speed of 79.3 mph was second only to AL MVP finalist Junior Caminero (79.4 mph). Walker also barreled the ball at a career-best rate of 13.2%. He cut his strikeout rate significantly, down to 26.1% last season after he struck out 31.8% of the time in 2025.

The results were the fruit of a simplified approach he worked on with his hitting coaches during the offseason.

Defensively, Walker’s arm was one of the best among outfielders -- his average arm strength of 96.5 mph ranked in the 99th percentile, according to Statcast.

With well-above-average sprint speed (29.1 feet per second on average), Walker swiped 22 bases in 27 attempts and produced +3 baserunning run value (87th percentile among qualified baserunners).

Walker’s Home Run Derby win made him the first Cardinals entrant to win the midsummer showcase. His victory was stunning given his final-round opponent, the venue in which he was taking aim at the bleachers and how calm and cool he was in his first Derby appearance.

In his final round, after Schwarber tallied 12 home runs to make Walker’s task a tall one -- especially with the biased crowd at Citizens Bank Park -- Walker deposited six straight over the fence to capture the Derby crown in dramatic fashion.

In all, it turned out to be a big year for Walker that brought him several accolades, the latest of which landed him a spot on the All-MLB Team for the first time in his career.