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ARLINGTON, Texas — Knowing discomfort in Jordan Walker’s left wrist could keep him out “several days” before he may “get going again,” the Cardinals placed the 23-year-old right fielder on the 10-day injured list with left wrist inflammation on Saturday.

The hope, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol noted, is that Walker’s IL stay won’t sideline him beyond the 10 days. The timing of Walker’s IL placement, which is retroactive to Thursday, comes as he had batted .333 and slugged .528 in 36 at-bats across the final three weeks of May.

“We’ll have him back pretty soon,” Marmol said.

Walker experienced pain in his left wrist during the Cardinals’ most recent homestand and had the severity of the pain go “in and out” while the Cardinals were in Baltimore for a three-game series earlier this week. Walker was absent from the Cardinals’ starting lineup on Friday. He tried to take on-field batting practice at Globe Life Field but was unable to do so as he “didn’t feel good” after taking a couple of swings, per Marmol.

Walker was said to be receiving treatment prior to Saturday’s game against the Rangers and was unavailable for comment.

The combination of Walker’s pain in his left wrist and any lingering effects in Willson Contreras’s left arm after he was hit by a 95-mph pitch from Rangers starter Jack Leiter on Friday made the need for the move clear.

“But when you think about potentially Contreras and his hit by pitch yesterday, you’re playing several guys short depending on how it goes today for him,” Marmol said. “It makes sense to try to get somebody here.”

In a corresponding move, the Cardinals selected the contract of Class AAA utilityman Ryan Vilade. Vilade, 26, was in Cardinals camp this past a non-roster invitee to big-league spring training after he signed a minor league contract in November.

While with Class AAA Memphis this season, Vilade has played all three outfield spots and received time at first base, second base, and third base. He has produced a .280 batting average, a .375 on-base percentage, and slugged .476 in 48 games for the Redbirds.

“Professional at-bat,” Marmol said of his impression of Vilade’s in spring training. “Did a really nice job of just grinding at-bats. I like his overall intent and his approach. He had a good spring for us. He showed well and gives you some versatility as far as where you can put him on the field.”

With Walker on the 10-day IL, the Cardinals started Alec Burleson in right field as they faced Rangers left-hander Patrick Corbin. Burleson’s start in right field marked his third start at that spot this year and his first since May 19.

Burleson and Walker, along with infielder Nolan Gorman, are three of the young players the Cardinals have looked to get regular at-bats this season. As Walker remains on the IL, Burleson and Gorman expect to continue receiving at-bats.

“They’ll both get at-bats. They will,” Marmol said.

Graceffo optioned

Along with Walker’s IL move, the Cardinals optioned rookie reliever Gordon Graceffo to Class AAA Memphis after he threw 40 pitches in one inning of work on Friday.

Graceffo, 25, allowed four runs in his appearance vs. Texas and would have been unavailable in the coming days, leading the Cardinals to recall right-hander Roddery Munoz from Class AAA. The 25-year-old Munoz appeared in the majors for the Cardinals earlier this season and could provide multiple innings of relief if needed.

Graceffo had been in the majors since early May in a role as a short burst reliever rather than being used as long reliever. Graceffo, a starter through his minor league career and the Cardinals’ minor league pitcher of the year in 2022, allowed eight runs (six earned) in 7 2/3 innings across seven outings. He struck out six batters and notched his first career save while working from a role new to him.

Marmol said Graceffo could be used out of the bullpen in multiple inning stints upon his return to Memphis.

“I like what he brings to the table. … But there’s some stuff that he knows he needs to attack in order to have the level of success that he’s capable of consistently up here,” Marmol said of Graceffo. “Some of that has to do with being out of the stretch and the windup and executing the breaking ball early in counts in order for him to get chase later with it. There are things that he’s very aware of and with his overall aptitude and work ethic, it’s just a matter of time.”

ARLINGTON, Texas — Even after walking off the mound of Globe Life Field on Saturday and realizing he had struck out the Rangers side in order in the third inning, Cardinals starter Sonny Gray said he didn’t begin to “start chasing” strikeouts.

Gray pitched scoreless innings in the fourth and fifth frames without getting a single strikeout as he mixed in cutters and sinkers while keeping his swing-and-miss sweeper present. The right-hander’s approach continued to quiet the Rangers and was followed by four strikeouts across his final two innings. The effort led Gray to notch his 19th double-digit strikeout game of his career as he kept the Rangers to four hits, no runs, and struck out 10 over seven innings in the Cardinals’ 2-0 win.

“I don't think it's something that you can start chasing,” Gray said of the strikeouts. “I think I probably did a good job of that maybe through the fourth, fifth (innings) of I went a couple with not striking anybody out. Where it's not something that you start chasing. I do think we did a really good job of flipping what we were doing maybe after the fourth or so. We kind of flipped some things around, which maybe got them (to where they weren't) able to keyhole into one thing.”

Looking to help his team to a “bounce-back” effort following an 11-1 loss on Friday, Gray matched a season-high in strikeouts and innings to even the Cardinals' weekend series vs. the Rangers.

An outing that began with two strikeouts in an 18-pitch first inning ended with Gray tallying another two strikeouts in the seventh to reach 1,800 for his career, making him the 10th active player to eclipse the 1,800-strikeout mark.

“You look at yesterday's game, you try to put it behind you as quickly as possible," Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. "But responding the way we did today, and Sonny being able to go out there, especially after we gave up so many runs yesterday, and continue to throw up zeros. The sweeper was a big part of it. He used the cutter appropriately. The sinker was good pitch for him. To give us seven with 10 punch outs: solid.”

An RBI on a sacrifice fly from Nolan Arenado and an RBI double from Willson Contreras produced the only runs the Cardinals needed for a win. A hold from Phil Maton and a save from closer Ryan Helsley secured a seventh shutout victory of the season for the Cardinals (33-25), and got them back to a season-high eight games above .500.

“We needed a good bounce-back today after last night, and we all kind of came out and did that,” Gray said.

Of the 10 strikeouts he recorded on 91 pitches, Gray got eight with his sweeper, which he threw 20 times. The sweeper had a 75% whiff rate. Gray's cutter was also used 20 times and got five swings-and-misses to help him scatter four hits to the Rangers.

The only inning in which Gray worked with multiple runners on base came in the fifth when a line drive from Marcus Semien dropped into left field and advanced Sam Haggerty to second base with two outs. After Haggerty stole third base, Gray induced an inning-ending flyout against Kyle Higashioka on a 3-2 sinker that capped a seven-pitch sequence.

Gray fell into a 2-1 count on Higashioka when he couldn’t get the Rangers catcher to chase on back-to-back sweepers. Gray got a called strike on a sinker to even the count and then offered a slider that Higashioka fouled off. When a 2-2 sinker was called for a ball, Gray offered a third sinker that Higashioka skied to center field for a routine out.

“We just have to show him a different hand,” catcher Pedro Pages said of the reliance on the sinker. “At the end of the day, people know what he (Gray) likes to throw. Obviously, he's done it for a while, and there are a lot of numbers around that, but giving him a different look of something that's just moving completely different compared to his four-seam (fastball) or his cutter — it was something we had to attack and stay in the zone there. He was comfortable enough to throw it and that's what we did and we executed it.”

The scoreless outing improved Gray to 6-1 through 12 starts and lowered his ERA to 3.65 across 69 innings. He’s tallied 76 strikeouts and reached double-digit strikeouts in a game twice this season. Those efforts have come in two of Gray’s previous three outings.

Gray’s scoreless performance was his fourth this season with six or more scoreless innings pitched. It was his third consecutive quality start — all three of which come after he allowed a season-high seven runs in 3 2/3 innings against the Phillies on May 14.

Following his outing in Texas, Gray said he feels he’s made strides in “a good direction” over his recent starts. Saturday’s performance allowed him to take "another step forward."

“I just feel like, even after my last outing, I felt very good about how I threw the ball and how the ball is coming out of my hand,” Gray said. “… I had a really good plan going into the day. Executed it pretty well. Did some things that I hadn't been able to do thus far this year. I know I've been making strides to that. Worked on it throughout the week in the bullpen and came up with a good visual for me, and executed some things a little bit differently. It was a really good team to do that against.”

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The Cardinals had two games in May that were exclusively streamed, on Apple TV+, and now begin June with another streamed-only contest — this time on Roku.

Roku televises MLB games early on Sundays through Sept. 7, some beginning as early as 10:35 a.m. (ӣ����Ƶ time) and dubbed “Sunday Leadoff” contests, and this weekend the Cards make the first of their two appearances this season on the package when they play 12:05 p.m. in Texas against the Rangers. But unlike with Apple, Roku’s games will be available for free without a trial subscription.

Roku uses announcers from the teams that are playing in the game, and on Sunday has Cardinals TV play-by-play announcer Chip Caray set to call the contest and work with Rangers analyst Mike Bacsik and on-field reporter Laura Stickells.

The Cardinals’ other Roku-only game is June 29, when they are in Cleveland for an 11:10 a.m. start. Their next Apple exclusive appearance also comes in that series, at 6:10 p.m. on June 27 (ӣ����Ƶ times).

Here is how to watch, per :

For Roku customers, the production will be available in the Sports section on the home screen menu or by putting “MLB Leadoff” in the search section.

For those who do not subscribe, “download The Roku Channel app, which is free and available on Amazon Fire devices, Samsung TVs and Google TVs. It is also accessible via . No login required. ... The game will be prominently featured across The Roku Channel, but you can also input ‘MLB Leadoff’ in the Search section found on the home screen menu.”

It will also be available for free on Roku’s app, which is free to download.

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Cardinals placed right fielder Jordan Walker on the 10-day injured list because of left wrist inflammation and optioned rookie reliever Gordon Graceffo to Class AAA on Saturday.

Walker, 23, did not appear in Friday’s series opener vs. the Rangers at Globe Life Field. His injury placement comes as he produced consistent results at the plate.

After Walker’s batting average dipped to .180 following a 0 for 4 performance on May 12, the 23-year-old batted .333 with a .351 on-base percentage and a .521 slugging percentage in 13 games since May 14. Walker’s stretch of production elevated his batting average to .215 and his on-base plus slugging percentage to .583 — the latter of which sat at .498 on May 12.

With Walker, the Cardinals’ opening-day starting right fielder, sidelined with the first IL stint of his big-league career, the Cardinals selected the contract of Class AAA utility player Ryan Vilade.

Vilade, 26, was a non-roster invitee to big-league camp this past spring. He opened the year with Class AAA Memphis where he’s batted .280 with an .851 OPS in 48 games for the Redbirds. Vilade has received innings at first base, second base, third base, and at all three outfield spots while in Memphis. A former second-round pick (48th overall) of the Rockies in 2017, Vilade debuted in the majors in 2021 for Colorado and played in 17 big-league games for the Tigers last season.

Graceffo was optioned to Class AAA after his first stint in the majors as a short burst reliever. Recalled to the majors on May 5, the 25-year-old Graceffo posted a 7.04 ERA and totaled 7 2/3 innings across seven relief outings. Graceffo allowed four runs in one inning of relief on Friday. He needed 40 pitches to complete his one inning vs. Texas, which would have left him unavailable from the bullpen in the coming days.

To give the Cardinals a fresh arm, right-hander Roddery Munoz was recalled from Memphis. Munoz, who owns a 5.06 ERA in 21 1/3 innings in the minors, gives the Cardinals a relief option who can cover multiple innings. The 25-year-old right made big-league appearances for the Cardinals in April and in early May. 

ARLINGTON, Texas — Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore felt he had Sam Haggerty “beat” on a 3-2 fastball placed at the top of the strike zone during their encounter in the second inning on Friday at Globe Life Field.

Liberatore was working with runners on first and second base, two outs in the frame, and with the Cardinals trailing 1-0 when Haggerty stepped in to face him. But rather than seeing the pitch he felt was going to help him escape a jam lead to an inning-ending out, Liberatore saw Haggerty line a double down the right field line for two RBIs after he had Haggerty in a 1-2 count two pitches prior.

The triple was followed by a two-run homer from Wyatt Langford that came on a 2-0 cutter. The back-to-back extra-bases hits put the Cardinals behind 4-0 in their 11-1 loss to Texas, it left Liberatore with a season-high five runs allowed (four of which were earned), and provided the 25-year-old starter with “plenty of takeaways” following five innings of work.

“I think you try and take away something from every start,” Liberatore said. “Today, probably a few more things than some of the previous ones.”

Coming into Friday, Liberatore held a 2.73 ERA in 59 1/3 inning across 10 starts. He notched a quality start in three of his previous four outings and had surrendered five runs in that span. He had not allowed more than three runs in a single outing since he gave up five in 6 1/3 innings on April 7 vs. the Pirates.

But on Friday, an error in the first inning from shortstop Masyn Winn, which marked Winn’s first error of the season, allowed Haggerty to reach base. A wild pitch moved Haggerty into scoring position for Josh Jung to single him in. After the Rangers drove Liberatore’s pitch count to 42 through two innings, Liberatore completed his last three frames of Friday on 49 pitches. The 25-year-old kept Texas scoreless and to two hits and one walk before he was lifted from the Cardinals’ series-opening loss.

“I threw a lot of pitches in the first couple innings today,” Liberatore said. “I mean, I threw a lot of pitches in every inning, really, but I was happy to be able to get through five and not come out of that game in the second or third inning. I was fighting to go back out for one more. I would have loved to get through six there, but it’s just a continuous game of adjustments. Each time out, I try and get better at making those.”

Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said he did not want to tack an additional inning onto Liberatore’s workload despite seeing the left-hander make the adjustments needed to give his club at least five innings in a start for the ninth time this year.

“He (Liberatore) was a little bit more timed up,” Marmol said. “The breaking ball wasn’t what we’ve seen in the past. He felt like he was finding himself a little bit. Just overall command wasn’t what we’ve seen in the last several outings, but this guy has done a really nice job. You’re going to have outings like that. He fought through it, and towards the end, did a much better job.”

In relief of Liberatore, rookie Gordon Graceffo allowed four runs in the sixth inning, all of which came on singles, and rookie Matt Svanson gave up two runs in the seventh inning on a home run by Marcus Semien.

The Cardinals’ lone run in the loss came on a double from Lars Nootbaar in the eighth inning. The Cardinals (32-25) were kept to three hits and struck out six times in 5 2/3 innings against Rangers starter Jack Leiter before scoring their only run of the series opener against reliever Caleb Boushley.

To give his club five innings and prevent what Marmol noted could have led the outing to “snowball,” Liberatore pointed to his more frequent use of his changeup as a factor. Thirteen of the 16 changeups Liberatore threw came after the second inning. That pitch led to four swings-and-misses and five called strikes. It aided him to four strikeouts over that span as he lacked the command of his curveball and had slight dips in his fastball and sinker velocities.

Liberatore, whose ERA jumped to 3.08 with the outing, said the adjustment to use his changeup more often came “an inning too late.” But it gave the lefty the Cardinals put in a spot to grow as a starter an option in his arsenal that helped him through three scoreless frames.

In the process, the mid-game adjustment provided a glimpse of where he has made strides from previous years.

“You look at the first inning, we make a mistake that leads to a run, and then they dump one in to right for two runs, and then the homer gets him. ... Games like that tend to speed him up in the past,” Marmol said of Liberatore, who was handed his first losing decision since May 1. “He wanted to go back out for the sixth. He felt like he was actually starting to lock it in and timing it up. He felt better out there, but there’s a lot of growth in (Liberatore), and just the way he’s handled those type of innings.”

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friday’s BOX SCORE

Rangers 11, Cardinals 1

ӣ����Ƶ AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Nootbaar lf 4 0 1 1 0 2 .252

M.Winn ss 4 0 0 0 0 1 .271

Donovan 2b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .333

Contreras 1b 2 0 1 0 0 1 .240

Gorman 3b 1 0 0 0 0 1 .189

Herrera dh 3 0 0 0 0 1 .345

Pagés 1b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .211

Arenado 3b 2 0 0 0 1 0 .236

Barrero rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167

Burleson rf-1b-p 4 0 0 0 0 1 .279

Pozo c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .321

Scott cf 2 1 1 0 1 1 .265

Totals 31 1 5 1 2 10

Texas AB R H BI BB SO Avg.

Haggerty rf 4 3 3 3 1 0 .255

Langford cf 4 1 1 2 1 2 .240

Seager ss 4 0 1 0 0 2 .287

Osuna lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .300

Jung 3b 5 0 3 3 0 1 .283

Heim c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .240

Barnhart c 1 0 0 0 0 0 .231

Burger 1b 5 1 1 0 0 0 .207

Higashioka dh 3 3 2 0 1 1 .241

Semien 2b 4 3 4 3 0 0 .190

Duran lf-ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .114

Totals 38 11 15 11 3 7

ӣ����Ƶ 000 000 010 — 1 5 1

Texas 140 004 20x — 11 15 0

E: M.Winn (1). LOB: ӣ����Ƶ 6, Texas 7. 2B: Nootbaar (12). 3B: Haggerty (2). HR: Langford (11), off Liberatore; Semien (4), off Svanson. RBIs: Nootbaar (28), Jung 3 (23), Haggerty 3 (5), Langford 2 (23), Semien 3 (21). SB: Semien (4). DP: ӣ����Ƶ 2; Texas 1.

ӣ����Ƶ IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Liberatore, L, 3-4 5 7 5 4 1 5 3.08

Graceffo 1 4 4 4 2 1 7.47

Svanson 1 3 2 2 0 1 4.15

Burleson 1 1 0 0 0 0 0.00

Texas IP H R ER BB SO ERA

Leiter, W, 4-2 52/3 3 0 0 2 6 3.66

Armstrong 1/3 0 0 0 0 0 3.91

Boushley, S, 1-1 3 2 1 1 0 4 4.95

Inherited runners-scored: Armstrong 1-0. HBP: Leiter (Contreras), Burleson (Osuna). WP: Liberatore, Leiter(2), Boushley. T: 2:39. Att.: 28,679.

ARLINGTON, Texas — When Oliver Marmol elevated shortstop Masyn Winn from the No. 9 spot in the Cardinals' batting order up to No. 2, he described the 23-year-old’s presence as one that could bring “energy” as Winn emerged from a slow start to his second full season in the majors.

That switch began with a two-homer game from Winn on April 30 in Cincinnati and has since continued with a 26-game stretch of production that includes a .309 batting average, a .387 on-base percentage, and a .526 slugging percentage across 112 plate appearances.

“I think when you look at Masyn, he comes alive at the top of that lineup. He's shown that,” Marmol said on Friday before his club opened a three-game series vs. the Rangers at Globe Life Field. “He enjoys being up there. I think it was a matter of time regardless of where he was hitting that he would start to do what he's doing right now.

“It's been good to have him at the top, set the tone with (leadoff hitter Lars Nootbaar) and the rest of the group there. (Brendan Donovan) has obviously done a nice job, but (Winn is) a guy that doesn't mind hitting with two strikes but knows when to take his shots earlier and he's showing the ability to do that well. It's been good here.”

Following a four-hit game in Baltimore on Wednesday that included a pair of doubles and matched careers highs in hits and runs scored (three), Winn boosted his batting average to .278 and his slugging percentage to .438. He entered Friday with an on-base plus slugging percentage of .795. Winn, who went hitless in his first 20 at-bats to begin the season, owned a .308 slugging percentage and a .619 OPS in 19 games this year before hitting from the No. 2 spot for the first time in his career.

“It feels good,” Winn said of his current stretch. “Obviously, I had a rough start with spring training and then the start of the year but just trusting the work that we put in and the adjustments that we're making in the cages has been great. It's been a lot of fun since I've moved up to that two-hole. I got a great hitter in front of me and a great hitter behind me that I just know we trust each other, and that goes with everybody in the lineup, but it's been a lot of fun up there.”

Winn said his experience as a rookie in 2024, when slashed .267/.314/.416 in 150 games, provided assurance during his slow start that he did not need to change anything “too drastically” despite seeing “triple-zero” on his batting average through his first five games.

As he’s seen his offense take an uptick, some advice from Lars Nootbaar has proved to be a factor in seeing some additional power.

Winn has increased his pull-percentage from 35.4% in 2024 to 47.2% this season, per FanGraphs. That increase has come while his average exit velocity on balls in play has increased from 87 mph a year to 89 mph this year and his 3.7% barrels rate (those being balls in play with the “perfect” combination of exit velocity and launch angle, per Statcast) has jumped to 7.3%.

“One of his (Lars’s) mindsets is, and why he has such a good eye is just, he's only swinging it somewhere in the count that he thinks he can pull in the air (to the) pull side. I think that's helped me a lot knowing that where most of my juice is (to) left field as opposed to right (field).”

Pitching decision incoming

With his club nearing a stretch of 29 games in 30 days beginning with a home game against the Royals on Tuesday at Busch Stadium, Marmol said he expects to announce how his club will utilize left-hander Steven Matz in the “next couple of days."

“I have a couple conversations to have before it's... official. But yes, we’ve thought through what we want that to look like,” Marmol said.

Matz, 32, opened the regular season in the Cardinals’ bullpen and made a start on April 16 when the club’s rotation expanded to six-man staff. Matz made an additional start on April 30 but has made 13 of his 15 appearances this season in a relief where he’s provided the Cardinals length and shorter bursts.

The effectiveness the Cardinals have received from the bullpen, the role Matz, who owns a 1.91 ERA in 33 innings, has had in that, and the void that could be left without Matz available in relief are all components the Cardinals are weighing.

Baez makes impactful Class AA debut

Outfield prospect Joshua Baez went 2 for 4 with a pair of singles, two stolen bases, and a run scored in his Class AA debut on Thursday. Baez, 21, was promoted to Class AA Springfield (Missouri) after he slashed .317/.404/.483 with eight doubles and four homers in 38 games for Class High-A Peoria. Baez, a former second round pick in the 2021 MLB Draft, maintained a strikeout rate of 21.4% while with Peoria after striking out in 37.3% of his plate appearances across 71 games in Class High-A last year.

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Jordan Walker made the jump to the majors from Double-A and slid right into the Opening Day lineup at Busch Stadium in 2023. Now, more than two years later, it truly feels like the Cardinals have finally created a dynamic that gives Walker the best chance of big-league success.

That goes beyond the influence of a new hitting coach and the club’s commitment to consistent playing time. Those elements remain key, but just pointing to two things would stop short of the full picture.

The combination of coaching personnel, communication, timing, experience and maturity as well as the promise of playing time gives Walker, the 23-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder dubbed the No. 4 overall prospect by Baseball America entering 2023, a chance to become an impactful big leaguer.

When asked during the most recent homestand about the difference he felt knowing he had “runway” to learn, fail and play through ups and downs in the majors this season, Walker offered an interesting response that leaned into his interaction with the coaching staff much more than regular playing time.

“Honestly, it’s really just the communication with me,” Walker said. “Talking with them. They always ask where I’m at, where my head is at, (encourage me to) keep going, what can I do to help. I think that’s been really, really good.

“Then, honestly, when I do fail it feels bad. I’m doing everything I can to not do it. When it comes working to get out of it when I’m in a slump or something like that, I don’t think that part has changed. I think my mindset, the mental stuff, the communication with hitters coaches and (outfield coach Jon Jay) — I think that’s what’s really been beneficial for me and helped me mentally.”

For the season, Walker has batted .215 with a .273 on-base percentage and a .310 slugging percentage with a strikeout percentage of 33.1% (among the bottom 2 percentile of all big league hitters) in 47 games.

Sidenote: He played just 51 games in the big leagues last season.

Recently, the 6-foot-6, 270-pound former first round pick’s offense has taken steps forward. In his previous 15 games entering this weekend’s series in Texas, Walker slashed .273/.289/.432 with 11 RBIs.

The strikeouts are still there to the tune of a 37.8% clip in that stretch. He walked just once, explaining his low on-base percentage.

Walker’s offense remains a work in progress, and progress is the most important thing he and the Cardinals can hope to see right now.

This winter, Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak acknowledged the addition of hitting coach Brant Brown this offseason was aimed largely at improving the development of the club’s young hitters, including Walker.

The first time Walker spoke to reporters this offseason, during Winter Warm-Up at Busch Stadium, he was about a half-step away from a kid on Christmas with his enthusiasm, energy and joy talking about the optimism and excitement he had about working with Brown.

While the daily monotony and the inevitable struggles of the season have taken some of that exuberance down a peg, Walker said he still starts every day at the ballpark by getting dressed, stretching and then getting into the cage to work with assistant hitting coach Brandon Allen and/or Brown.

Walker clearly stated he feels the mental side of things and his mindset have been a significant difference for him, and the communication with the staff clearly plays a pivotal role.

“It’s a hard sport to play,” Walker said. “When things are going wrong, you don’t always know what’s going wrong. Sometimes you’ve got to talk through it. When things were going wrong, I didn’t always know it.

"So being able to sit down in the office and talk to any one of them and have a good conversation on what I feel, what they see and how they can help is definitely beneficial to me.”

What's hard to know is how much of that ease Walker described should be credited to new voices on the staff like Brown and Jay and how much should be credited to Walker being more willing to seek out the staff and more receptive to their input.

“Jordan has been really good at being open to feedback, both on the defense and offensive side, and committing to a routine that allows him to feel prepared and play with more confidence,” Cardinals manager Oli Marmol said. “If anything has changed, it’s been that style of communication. He’s been way more comfortable coming and letting you know how he’s feeling.

“Just in conversation, there’s a comfortability to it that I don’t feel like was there previously. I think it’s just the more time, the more comfortable he has gotten being himself.”

Walker’s experience and maturity now compared to his arrival as a wide-eyed rookie in 2023 surely plays a significant part.

Of course, the assurance of playing time likely and understandably factors into Walker’s receptiveness.

It’s not like the slightest stumbling block might be the excuse needed to replace Walker in the lineup dealing with in an outfield logjam that included Tyler O’Neill, Dylan Carlson and Lars Nootbaar as well as Brendan Donovan and Alec Burleson as options in 2023.

Whether the change is more on Walker’s part or on the coaching staff’s part, it has yielded a different type of dialogue.

“He doesn’t feel like he has to have everything together,” Marmol said. “This is part of the process, and you’re going to grow. You don’t have to know all of it today. He’s comfortable with that right now. I feel like that’s been the biggest change.”

Nobody is proclaiming Walker “fixed.” He's still got room for big improvements, and he has to show consistency.

There are no guarantees. But the change both Walker and Marmol describe in how he communicates with the staff is reason to believe Walker has a real chance to continue growing with the Cardinals as opposed to needing a change of scenery in order to find success.

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• Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch

Other

Worthy: Yeah, we really are watching the best Battlehawks team ӣ����Ƶ has produced

• Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch

Lynn Worthy

Worthy: How Victor Scott II uses past greats and current methods to produce a throwback style

• Lynn Worthy | Post-Dispatch