Jordan Walker is off to one of the best starts that a hitter could ever dream of. Through the first 18 games of the season, Walker slashed .319/.373/.710, while also leading all of Major League Baseball in home runs. With his double late in the St. Louis Cardinals rubber match with the Cleveland Guardians on Wednesday, he also carried an 11-game hit streak over to the Cardinals' second road trip of the year.

The once No. 4 prospect in baseball from 2023 is now flashing on the big league stage why he was so highly touted. Walker enters Thursday, top five in average exit velocity, and third in total barrels this season, and he has found the swing that once got him to the majors at the age of 20 just three seasons ago. After he showed some mild success at the major league level, the Cardinals wanted him to go back to the minors and adjust his swing to lift the ball more, and when he returned to the majors, he struggled. Walker struggled for the next two seasons, hitting .201 in 2024 and .215 last season. He would spend parts of both seasons in the minors, still attempting to iron out his swing.

After hitting 16 home runs during his rookie campaign, he would hit just 11 over the next two seasons, and his ground ball percentage did not improve to what the Cardinals wanted. So this winter, he went back to the basics, went to Driveline during the offseason, and got to work. The result is a completely different hitter. Instead of spending the bulk of his time at the bottom of the St. Louis lineup, he has vaulted himself squarely into the heart of the order and is producing in a big way for the Cardinals.

Harold Reynolds of MLB Network spoke about Walker during MLB Tonight and compared his swing to that of when Walker was 17 years old. Noting that trying to force himself to lift the ball had removed him from his natural swing, and as Reynolds put it, “I think he went back to what he was doing at 17 years old.”

The MLB season is certainly a marathon and not a sprint, but Walker has gotten off to a strong start. While his numbers might not keep up with the 81 home runs that he is currently on pace for, Walker has made the necessary adjustments to his swing and reverted to what got him drafted in the first round by the Cardinals in the first place.

With a regained confidence at the plate and his improved defense in right field, the Cardinals may have had a late bloomer in Walker, and time was what he needed to get feeling right at the plate and to get comfortable instead of the constant shuttle back and forth between Triple-A Memphis and St. Louis. The Cardinals have started better than many expected, and part of that is thanks to the breakout from their former top prospect.