ST. LOUIS -- Cardinals outfielder Jordan Walker has been asked about his power surge a lot recently, and he consistently answers the questions in a similar manner each time as the baseball world demands to learn more about the origins of his remarkable offensive turnaround.
Walker's response? He's keeping it simple and sticking to the process.
Well, having a process is all well and good -- but the results are getting harder to deny for the resurgent Cardinals slugger.
Walker walloped his Major League-leading eighth home run of the season on Monday night in the Cards' 9-3 loss to the Guardians at Busch Stadium, jumping on the first pitch he saw from Cleveland starter Gavin Williams in the bottom of the sixth inning.
The rebound for Walker has been dramatic, particularly when comparing to his numbers over the past two seasons. He finished the 2025 campaign with a .584 OPS; following Monday’s homer, that number is at 1.167 -- almost twice that total from mere months ago.
But it's not just the rebound. Walker continues to hit his way into team history. His eight home runs over the team’s first 16 games matches the early season marks of Scott Rolen (2004), Mark McGwire (1998) and Stan Musial ('54).
In Cardinals history, only Albert Pujols has had a more torrid home run pace than Walker’s start to 2026, with 11 home runs in the club's first 16 games in 2006.