How long would you give Walker as a starter?

[Famous Mortimer]

What are the Cardinals expecting Jordan Walker to figure out this season that he didn't figure out in the last two?

How to hit the baseball more often.

Optional: hit it farther.

I mean, that's what they want, but my question was about what they expect.

[Popeye_Card]

What are the Cardinals expecting Jordan Walker to figure out this season that he didn't figure out in the last two?

How to hit the baseball more often.

Optional: hit it farther.

I mean, that's what they want, but my question was about what they expect.

They expect him to do those things better.

And if he doesn’t, then he gets non-tendered in the offseason.

Obviously there is coaching involved to attempt to get those results, but that’s the literal answer to your question.

[Fan_In_NY]

I think one of the better case scenarios is Jo Adell

[jagtrader]

I think one of the better case scenarios is Jo Adell

Yes, a 1-win player with a sub.-.300 on-base if everything goes well. They’ll probably get that from Velasquez.

[Famous Mortimer]

They expect him to do those things better.

And if he doesn’t, then he gets non-tendered in the offseason.

Obviously there is coaching involved to attempt to get those results, but that’s the literal answer to your question.

Jesus, this is like pulling teeth. Do you think that's what I was trying to say?

I understand that the Cardinals hope Walker will turn into a decent player this year. My post, obvious as I thought it was but here's another statement of it, was wondering what the Cardinals think Walker will actually do this year. What, in other words, their "expectation" of him as a player in 2026 is. What do their internal projection systems have Walker down for, I wonder?

[Popeye_Card]

They expect him to do those things better.

And if he doesn’t, then he gets non-tendered in the offseason.

Obviously there is coaching involved to attempt to get those results, but that’s the literal answer to your question.

Jesus, this is like pulling teeth. Do you think that's what I was trying to say?

I understand that the Cardinals hope Walker will turn into a decent player this year. My post, obvious as I thought it was but here's another statement of it, was wondering what the Cardinals think Walker will actually do this year. What, in other words, their "expectation" of him as a player in 2026 is. What do their internal projection systems have Walker down for, I wonder?

My point is that I don’t think the Cardinals are looking at any sort of projections for Walker. It is a sink or swim season. He sinks? Non-tendered. He swims? They can determine if he’s part of the future or they trade him.

As for where that line is? I don’t know, maybe a 95-ish OPS+ for a player his age and with his raw skills?

[WAR God]

I hope Jordan Walker saved his signing bonus $.

[sighyoung]

I agree. It's hard to project for a player whose performance falls so far below any expectations that the team really can't say what it has in the player.

[phins]

Rasmus's problem was partly that we expected him to be Jim Edmonds 2.0, partly that his nonchalance was interpreted as dogging it (which didn't help things when he wasn't Jim Edmonds 2.0), and partly because of his meddlesome father acting like he knew more than the coaching staff.

Yup. He was bang on a 50 player. That's what you expect from a top-100 prospect.

The real issue is perception amongst fans, who believe that being a top-100 prospect means being a star, when in reality, it's really 50/50 that a top-100 prospect will be a 2-WAR player during their first six years.

A 2-WAR player is an awesome outcome for a prospect. Which simply isn't fun. We all want our top prospect to be a 4-WAR guy, which is a 70.

[Popeye_Card]

But IIRC Rasmus was more like a top-10 (MLB) prospect, and outside of one good season he never really developed as a Cardinal.

I believe the point of the question was that the Cardinals can’t seem to develop a star caliber OF, despite a few chances to do so over the years with top level prospects. But maybe you don’t “develop” that next level through coaching, otherwise everyone would do it.