When the days got dark and joy was hard to find in baseball, Jordan Walker kept reminding himself of one thing – regardless of whether he was playing for the St. Louis Cardinals or banished to Triple-A to try and find a swing that would help him consistently stroke baseballs.

“I mean, definitely, it was hard to stay positive all the time, but I don't think I ever thought, ‘This is it; this is all I have as a player,’” Walker said while recalling the rough moments over the first three years of his MLB career. “I played my whole life at a high level, so I was always telling myself, ‘I'm better than this, for sure!’ I pretty much couldn't wait to show it.”

Walker, 24, has certainly shown his superstar power in 2026 with a comeback story for the ages. After struggling mightily most of the past three seasons and spending parts of each one in the Minor Leagues searching for his swing, Walker has suddenly and inexplicably become one of the game’s most feared hitters in 2026.

Already, he’s hit career highs in home runs (22) and RBI (74), earning himself an invite to the MLB All-Star Game. On Monday night at Philadelphia’s Citizens Bank Park, Walker showed the jaw-dropping blend of power and athleticism that has fueled his meteoric rise to stardom this season with a power surge that allowed him to win the MLB Home Run Derby.

As spectacular as it was to watch Walker power balls out of the park, the manner in which he did it – with the crowd booing him before swings and jeering his failures – his ability to deliver a clutch, against-all-odds performance in the clutch was just as striking. Down to his final swing each until unless he homers to keep his run going, Walker incredible smashed six straight homers, with the final one allowing him to beat hometown hero Kyle Schwarber and become the first Cardinals player ever to win the Home Run Derby.       

“I was once told you don’t boo nobodies, so doing this feels really good,” Walker said after winning the award and the $1 million prize money that is more than his 2026 salary with the Cardinals ($799,999). “In all honesty, I was once that kid in the backyard wanting to be the Home Run Derby champion. So, it’s pretty nice that my dream came true for me tonight.”

The dreams and stardom of Walker could finally be starting to take off for the player the Cardinals thought was on a collision course with greatness from a young age. The Cards used their first-round pick in 2020 to select Walker in the pandemic-shortened 2020 MLB Draft, and he was in the big leagues just three years later without even spending a day at Triple-A.

After opening his MLB career with hits in his first 12 games – the youngest to do that in more than a 100 years at the raw age of 20 – Walker appeared to be on the path toward stardom.

However, concerns about his launch angle and pitch selection led to Walker being demoted to Triple A Memphis, where he spent six weeks before returning and capping his rookie season with 16 homers and a bright promise for the future.

However, not much went right for Walker in 2024 and ’25 when he hit just five and six homers, respectfully, and spent extended stretches in the Minor Leagues.

This season has been different almost from the start. After homering in the first series of the season against the Rays, Walker announced himself as a completely different hitter with seven homers in a nine-game stretch from April 4-13. He hit homers in three straight games twice and ended April with eight long balls. He had six more homers in May, allowing him to approach his career high before the mercury started to rise in St. Louis.      

Walker’s breakout summer has allowed him to hit the All-Star break as MLB’s RBI leader with 74. He is slashing .294/.354/.532/.886 – and all four categories would be career-best numbers. Those 22 homers and 74 RBI are already career-best marks, and he’s matched the 19 doubles he had in his rookie season of 2023.

How about this to show the starkness of Walker’s 2026 season compared to his disappointing first three MLB seasons. His OPS+ for 2026 is 148 – 48 percent better than the league average hitter. That mark is better than his 2025 (72) and 2024 (66) combined and easily better than his rookie season (113) in 2023 when he broke into the big leagues.

Teammate Matthew Liberatore, who also had his struggles sticking at the big league level and played with Walker in Triple-A and with the Cardinals, marvels at how his teammate dug himself out of the darkness that surrounded his first three years in the big leagues.

“I’ve seen a lot of guys go through a lot less failures than he’s had to deal with and it’s still absolutely crumbled them, and they never come back the same player,” said Liberatore, a teammate of Walker’s since 2023. “For Jordan to go through what he’s gone through – with the levels of pressure and scrutiny he’s had to face – it’s pretty commendable. Seeing how he’s come through that shows people the kind of player he is and it’s a testament to the kind of person he is.”

While Walker admits that his stubbornness might have hindered him at times in the past, he has remained stubborn about a couple things as his star power has started shooting through baseball’s stratosphere. He doesn’t ever want to overthink his swing again, and always wants to remain athletic and instinctual when he’s swinging the lumber and launching balls out of the ballpark.  

“I think I still am stubborn when it comes to just try not to stray too far away from what I’ve always done and trying to keep things simple,” Walker said with a sheepish grin. “I think I work best when we keep things simple. I've had a lot of conversations (with the Cardinals’ hitting staff), and we're seeing eye to eye on everything. That's really what it’s all about … keeping things simple and staying athletic.

“It's been a good season to build off on so far, and I want to keep it going. I’m going to be a little stubborn about not thinking about it too much and keeping things simple. I believe in myself and I want to keep it going.”

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