Cardinals' All-Star and Home Run Derby Champion Jordan Walker has compiled four double-digit hit streaks in 2026 -- the most in MLB. His current 10-game hit streak included a much-needed homer on Saturday night to end a 22-game skid without a long ball.
Having not seen a meaningful baseball fly out of the ballpark since he was swatting long balls on his final six swings of the MLB Home Run Derby on July 13, Cardinals' slugger Jordan Walker finally found a swing that made him an MLB All-Star for the first time in 2026 to relieve some pressure.
Hitting in the eighth inning of a 7-4 game that the Cardinals would go onto lose 8-5 to the Rockies on Saturday night, Walker demolished a 79.2 mph changeup from Colorado lefty Brennan Bernardino, hitting it 432 feet and causing it to leave the bat at 107.3 mph.
On the surface, Walker’s blast might have been viewed as a meaningless homer in a game that the Cardinals would go on to drop. However, upon closer inspection, one can see what the homer did for the psyche of the Cardinals’ 24-year-old slugger.
First off, Walker was not only 0 for 4 before last Saturday’s long ball, but he had failed to get the ball out of the infield in any of his previous at bats. Also, it looked as if a homer drought that stretched to July 9 – four days before his jaw-dropping Home Run Derby performance – was about to reach 23 games. Could it be that the infamous Home Run Derby jinx was in play again?
However, with one prodigious swing late Saturday night, Walker’s smile was splashed across his face and his rhythm returned. And it seemed to unlock the 6-foot-6, 250-pound slugger’s swing again.
Walker followed that late Saturday homer up with two more hits and his 83rd RBI on Sunday and another single on Monday night against the Phillies that extended his hitting streak to 10 games, the longest active streak in MLB now.
Incredibly, Walker has compiled four double-digit hit streaks this season: 15 games (April 4-April 20), 10 games (June 2-13), 12 games (July 7-July 21) and 10 games (July 29-Aug. 10). He is the only MLB player in 2026 with more than three double-digit hit streaks – not even something four-time All-Star and Phillies adversary Luis Arraez has done this season. Also, there’s this: Walker is the first Cardinals player to compile four double-digit hit streaks since Matt Holliday did it in 2010 with hitting sprees of 10, 13, 11 and 16 games.
One of the major differences in the current hit streak as opposed to the previous three compiled by Walker is that there isn’t as much power sprinkled in this time around. During his 15-gamer in April, Walker smashed seven home runs and had five multi-hit games to announce himself as a changed man this season.
He hit three homers and had five more multi-hit games during his 10-game hit spree in June and another two homers and two-multi-hit games in his July hitting streak that spanned 12 games.
Fatigue hit Walker, teammates hard in July
Walker will likely pass his career high in games played by Wednesday when the Cardinals wrap up their three-game series against the Phillies. In his 115 games played so far, Walker has hits in 87 of his 115 games played so far, and he has gone three consecutive games without a hit only twice all season.
Cardinals hitting coach Brant Brown thinks that the fatigue of playing every day – a new phenomenon for Cardinals’ sluggers Alec Burleson, Ivan Herrera and Walker – could have slowed the talented trio a bit during the team’s offensive slide in July.
“We’ve told Walker, Burly and Ivan, they have played more than they ever have in their life, so their bodies are just a little bit banged up,” Brown told Cardinals TV. “With (Walker), he’s been trying to put him in better positions and fight through that (body fatigue). We finally found a comfortable place for him to let his skill set come out and play.”
Walker has already set career highs in hits (128), doubles (23), homers (23), RBI (83) and he’s equaled his career-best mark of 37 walks, set previously in his rookie season of 2023. Also, he’s on pace to set new career highs in batting average (.285), slugging (.490) and OPS (.831) and his on-base percentage (.341) is just one percentage point off what he did during his rookie year.
Walker’s towering home run on Saturday night was a pleasant surprise for the Cardinals because it somewhat stemmed his slide in slugging of late. Since July 1, 26 of his 38 hits have gone for singles – with the other 12 consisting of seven doubles and five homers.
Brown stressed that Walker doesn’t have to try and slug because that is something that comes natural with his swing. Walker’s bat speed of 79.2 mph on average is tops in baseball, per Baseball Savant. Also, his average exit velocity of 92.7 mph ranks in MLB’s top 94th percentile. Walker’s 68 blasts of 107 mph or more this season rank second in MLB only to Rays’ star Junior Caminero (75).
“The other thing with (Walker) is this: ‘Don’t try to force the issue,’” Brown added. “When he’s calm and bored and puts a good swing on a ball, it’s going to go and he doesn’t ever have to worry about (bat) speed or power. With him, it’s really just about him settling down and finding a comfortable spot and then trusting his eyes.”
