Cards slugger Walker becomes 5th member of '26 HR Derby field

Jordan Walker is heading to the All-Star Game amid his long-awaited breakout season. Now, the 24-year-old is set to swing for the fences, too.

Walker accepted MLB’s invitation to participate in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby.

The Derby will be held on Monday at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park and will air live at 8 p.m. ET on Netflix.

Walker will be the first Cardinals hitter to participate in the Home Run Derby since Albert Pujols in 2022. No Cardinal has ever won the Derby, with Pujols coming closest: He finished as the runner-up to Garret Anderson in 2003.

Walker joins Rays third baseman Junior Caminero, Yankees first baseman Ben Rice, Royals outfielder Jac Caglianone and Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras as the other Derby participants announced in this year’s field.

A spot in the Derby is the latest honor for Walker, whose star turn for the resurgent Cardinals is one of baseball’s feel-good stories. He broke into the Majors as a 20-year-old in 2023, debuting as one of baseball’s top-ranked prospects. It sure looked like Walker was on his way to becoming a franchise cornerstone after a productive rookie season saw him swat 16 home runs and post a .787 OPS.

But the next two seasons were far more difficult. In a two-year span from 2024-25, Walker’s .595 OPS was one of the lowest in the Majors. His power cratered, as he hit just 11 home runs across 574 plate appearances. He lost playing time in right field, struggled with his mechanics and found himself demoted to Triple-A Memphis.

This year has been a completely different story. Walker re-worked his body in the offseason and, after struggling through the initial slate of Spring Training games, decided to re-work his swing, too. It was his idea to take a break from game action and spend more time at the team’s hitting lab. The decision has certainly paid off.

Through 89 games, Walker is slashing .294/.355/.534 with 21 home runs, 70 RBIs and an .889 OPS. The new Walker -- with a revamped swing designed to lift the ball in the air -- is tailor-made for the Derby. Entering play on Thursday, only nine hitters had more long balls than Walker and only 12 had a higher slugging percentage.

The power comes easy now, as Walker swings one of the Majors' fastest bats, with a 79.1 mph average bat speed and an 85.7% fast-swing rate. Caminero is the only qualified hitter with better metrics in either category. As a result, Walker hits the ball incredibly hard: His 94.2 mph average exit velocity is tied for fifth highest among qualified hitters.