Everything's different about Walker in '26 -- especially the way he bounces back
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ST. LOUIS -- A popular sentiment in the early portion of the Cardinals’ season was to treat Jordan Walker’s fledgling star turn like a house of cards, due to tumble at any given moment.
Sometimes, it felt as though even whispering about the brilliant things Walker was doing on a baseball field could be enough for it all to come crashing down.
That’s how it felt to watch him play for the past few seasons. This year, though, has been different in every way.
With each pocket of adversity that Walker has faced throughout the 2026 season to date, he’s found noteworthy ways to assert himself thereafter, climbing out of the doldrums to find steady footing.
During the first two games of this week’s series against the Rangers at Busch Stadium, Walker endured arguably the roughest mini-slump of his big league career.
Walker kicked off June on Monday by donning the golden sombrero, striking out in each of his four times at bat. Tuesday, he struck out in each of his first three plate appearances to mark seven consecutive plate appearances with a K to begin the series.
The span of seven straight strikeouts, indeed, marked the longest of Walker’s career. It was the first time a Cardinal had whiffed his way into the history books to that extent since Tyler O’Neill went down on strikes seven straight times from August 10-12, 2022.
Walker actually pulled himself out of the funk late in Tuesday’s loss, with a seventh-inning RBI single. The backdrop of how Walker began the series, though, is still relevant after Wednesday’s series finale against the Rangers because it illustrates the way that Walker bounces back in 2026.
Similar to the Cardinals in the context of the three-game series, Walker continued his rebound on Wednesday, contributing a 3-for-4 outing in St. Louis' win over Texas.